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SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 


AND 


HIS     POEMS 


grejsentrti  to  tfje  |3jjt'IosopIjtral  JJaculty 

OF     THE 

KAISER    WILHELM'S     UNIVERSITY    AT    STRASSBURG    FOR 
THE   ACQUISITION    OF   THE   DEGREE   OF    DOCTOR 
OF    PHILOSOPHY 


BY 

WILLIAM    EDWARD   SIMONDS, 

INSTRUCTOR    IN    GERMAN,   CORNET. I.    UNIVERSITY. 


BOSTON: 

D.    C.    HEATH    AND    COMPANY. 

1SS9. 


Copyright,  1S89, 
By  William  Edward  Simonds. 


Slmfcetsitg  ^rcsss: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.S.A. 


MAIM 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  presenting  the  following  Essay  to  the  attention  of 
those  for  whom  its  subject  may  possess  some  in- 
terest, a  word  of  explanation  regarding  its  character 
and  scope  may  not  be  superfluous. 

As  at  first  intended,  there  would  have  been  four 
divisions  in  the  Essay,  subordinate  and  introductory  to 
a  concluding  part,  which  should  have  formed  the  main 
chapter  of  the  thesis.  These  four  sections  were  to  have 
treated  of  the  life  of  Wyatt,  the  texts,  the  metre,  and 
the  interpretation  of  the  poems.  The  results  herein 
obtained  were  then  to  be  brought  together  in  the  con- 
cluding portion,  and  applied  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  object  sought,  —  an  attempted  chronology  of  the 
poet's  works. 

As  the  work  progressed,  the  preliminary  chapter  on 
the  life  of  Wyatt  increased  in  its  proportions,  by  reason 
of  the  material  recently  made  available,  until  its  subor- 
dinate character  has  been  lost,  and  it  now  vies  in  impor- 
tance with  the  section  it  precedes.  The  discussion  of 
the  metre  has  been  omitted,  lest  it  might  detract  some- 
what from  the  unity  of  the  plan  as  at  last  adopted  in  its 

83051 


iv  INTRODUCTION. 

modified  form.  This  division  of  the  subject  may  best 
be  treated  in  a  separate  essay.  The  section  on  the 
texts  has  been  made  as  short  as  possible ;  the  purpose 
being  to  give  such  information  merely  as  shall  be 
necessary  to  an  understanding  of  their  condition  and 
relation.  Some  results  of  importance  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work  are  there  indicated.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  the  original  MSS.  have  not  been  available 
for  study;  without  a  critical  examination  of  the  MS. 
texts  a  thorough  handling  of  the  subject  is  impossible. 
The  second  division  of  the  Essay  aims  to  give  an  in- 
terpretation of  the  poems,  —  to  determine  whether  or 
not  the  individual  p'oems  are  so  intimately  related  as 
to  admit  of  arrangement  in  characteristic  groups,  and 
whether  a  line  of  order  and  of  progress  binds  these 
groups  logically  together.  If  such  an  order  is  discov- 
erable, it  remains  to  reconcile  the  suggestions  of  the 
poems  with  the  facts,  as  known,  in  Wyatt's  life;  this 
accomplished,  it  is  easy  to  set  limits  chronologically  to 
the  various  groups,  and  a  chronological  order,  so  far 
as  practicable,  will  be  established. 

It  will  be  obvious,  therefore,  that  of  the  two  divi- 
sions which  now  compose  the  Essay,  neither  is  subor- 
dinate, each  contributing  to  the  purpose  of  the  other ; 
Part  First,  on  the  life  of  the  poet,  seeking  a  supplement 
in  the  portion  devoted  to  his  works,  a  logical  intro- 
duction to  which  it  aims  to  furnish. 

No  one  can  be  more  sensibly  aware  than  is  the  writer 


IXTRODUCTIOX.  v 

himself  of  the  difficulties  and  uncertainties  that  char- 
acterize the  attempted  solution  of  a  problem  like  that 
advanced  in  the  pages  following.  The  subject  is  one 
of  considerable  interest  historically,  as  well  as  to  the 
student  of  English  literature  in  the  particular  epoch 
concerned.  The  work  herewith  introduced  is  in  the 
truest  sense  an  essay,  and  will  attain  its  modest  pur- 
pose if  by  its  statements  or  suggestions  it  throws 
any  light  upon  the  career  of  a  man  whose  life  and 
works  seem  charged  with  the  romantic  spirit  of  a 
romantic  time;  if  it  shall  aid  in  penetrating  the  ob- 
scurity that  has  wrapped  the  poet's  life ;  or,  possibly, 
tend  to  animate  a  collection  of  dry  poems  with  the 
interest  and  personality  of  their  author's  passion. 

It  remains  for  the  essayist  to  give  expression  to  his 
appreciation  of  the  counsel  and  assistance  so  kindly 
extended  by  his  friends  and  teachers.  Grateful  recogni- 
tion is  due  the  services  rendered  by  his  fellow-students, 
Prof.  Frank  R.  Butler,  of  the  Woman's  College,  Balti- 
more, and  Prof.  Bliss  Perry,  of  Williams  College,  on 
whose  kindly  sympathy  and  aid  he  has  always  been 
able  to  rely. 

It  would  be  impossible  fittingly  to  express  the  obli- 
gation and  the  gratitude  the  writer  feels  as  he  recalls 
the  encouragement  and  help  afforded  by  his  honored 
instructor,  Prof.  Dr.  Bernhard  Ten  Brink,  of  the  Strass- 
burg  University.  It  was  by  his  suggestion  that  the 
Essay   was   undertaken,    and    it   is   largely  to    his  care- 


vi  .     INTRODUCTION. 

ful  criticism  and  most  valuable  assistance  that  what- 
ever merit  it  contains  is  due.  It  must  be  added  also 
that  as  the  work  has  been  completed  and  revised  since 
it  last  fell  under  Prof.  Ten  Brink's  eye,  it  would  be 
unjust  to  claim  his  indiscriminate  approval  of  all  the 
theories  therein  advanced ;  he  is  not  responsible  for  the 
writer's  views. 


CONTENTS. 


Pace 

Introduction iii 

Part    I.   Biography n 

Pari-  II.    YVyatt's  Poems 49 

A.  The  Text 49 

B.  The  Interpretation 64 


Earliest  Poems 68 

Group  I.  of  the  Love- Poems 70 

II.    "      "     82 

III.  "      "     91 

IV.  "      «     108 

V.  Occasional  Poems 132 

VI.  Late  Poems 140 


Conclusion 144 

A  Register  of  the  Poems 145 

Index  . *5l 


part  ifirst. 
BIOGRAPHY. 


SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 

AND    HIS    POEMS. 


|Dart  IFfott, 

BIOGRAPHY. 

SIR  THOMAS  WYATT.  the  poet,  was  descended  from  an 
ancient  and  honorable  family,  originally  of  Yorkshire, 
where  down  to  the  time  of  Henry  VII.  the  Wyatts  seem  to  have 
resided.  Sir  Henry  Wyatt  (1460-1538),  the  father  of  the  poet, 
had  borne  a  part  in  the  exciting  events  which  terminated  the 
long  struggle  between  the  rival  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster. 
An  adherent  of  the  Lancastrian  party,  he  suffered  imprisonment 
at  the  hands  of  the  usurper,  Richard  III.,  and  according  to  a 
statement  in  the  famous  letter  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  to  his  son, 
was  threatened  with  the  rack  or  actually  tortured  in  the  tyrant's 
presence.1  With  the  accession  of  Henry  VII.,  in  1485,  Sir 
Henry's  star  began  to  rise.  He  early  became  a  member  of  the 
Privy  Council,  and  one  of  the  most  trusted  and  esteemed  of 
the  king's  advisers.  He  was  named  one  of  the  executors  of 
the  king's  will,  and  at  the  death  of  Henry  was  nominated  by  the 
Countess  of  Richmond  to  be  one  of  the  council  for  the  man- 
agement of  public  affairs  until  the  young  king  should  be  able  to 
transact  business  of  State  for  himself.'2 

1  This  preserved  him  in  prison  from  the  hands  of  the  tyrant  that  could 
find  in  his  heart  to  see  him  racked.  —  Wyatt" s  Letter  to  his  Son.  Nott, 
p.  269  ;  Aldine  ed.,  p.  !v. 

2  Herbert's  Henry  VIII.,  p.  2. 


12  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

At  the  accession  of  Henry  VIII.  Wyatt  was  already  living  in 
Kent,  having  about  the  year  1493  purchased  the  castle  and 
estate  of  Allington,  near  Maidstone,  which  remained  so  long  as 
retained  by  them  the  chief  residence  of  the  family.1  Sir  Henry 
continued  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  sovereign's  favor.  Created 
Knight  of  the  Bath  at  the  coronation  of  the  young  king,  in  1509, 
he  was  made  knight-banneret  on  the  field  after  the  Battle  of 
Spurs,  in  August,  15 13.  During  the  same  year  he  was  ap- 
pointed treasurer  of  the  king's  jewels,  with  a  salary  of  ^o.2  He 
was  still  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  was  constantly 
employed  in  positions  of  trust  and  honor  by  the  king,  who  re- 
tained him  as  long  as  possible  near  his  person.  In  15 19  he  had 
accompanied  Henry  to  Calais,  and  in  capacity  of  knight-marshal 
attended  his  sovereign  at  the  notable  interview  with  Francis  I. 
upon  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold.a  In  1527  he  had  the 
honor  of  entertaining  Henry  at  the  Castle  of  Allington,4  and  in 
*533  we  find  him  holding  the  honorable  position  of  ewerer  to 
the  king.5  It  has  been  stated  by  one  or  two  writers  that  Sir 
Henry  held  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  the  Royal  Chamber  during 
the  period  15 25-2 8.6  The  truth  is  that  he  was  appointed  to  this 
office  at  least  two  years  before  the  date  assigned ;  this  is  abun- 
dantly proved  by  the  State  Papers  now  accessible.  The  earliest 
paper  bearing  his  name  and  title  is  an  indenture  of  date  18 
February,  1523,  in  which  occurs  the  name  of  "  Sir  Henry  Wyat, 
treasurer  of  the  Chamber." 7  Again,  under  date  of  24  Febru- 
ary,  1523,  is  a  memorandum  that  by  the  cardinal's  (Wolsey) 

1  Hasted's  Kent,  ii.  184. 

2  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Henry  VIII.  i.  4125.  For  Sir  Henry 
Wyatt,  the  king's  councillor.  To  be  treasurer  of  the  king's  jewels  ;  with 
annuity  of  ^50,  and  appointment  of  two  yeomen  and  one  page.  De- 
livered Westm.  26,  May  5,  Hen.  VIII. 

3  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  hi.  241,  243. 

4  Cavendish's  History  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  ch.  xiii. 
6  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vi.  601,  701. 

6  Aid.  ed.,  p.  x ;  Riverside  ed.,  p.  xii. 

7  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  iii.  2S35. 


AND   HIS  POEMS. 


15 


warrant,  dated  24  February,  14  Hen.  VIII. ,  Thos.  Magnus  re- 
ceived from  Sir  Henry  Wyatt  for  the  army  on  the  Scotch  border, 
and  to  be  issued  for  necessaries  by  command  of  the  Earl  of 
Surrey,  ^20,ooo.1  Unfortunately  the  patent  granting  the  office 
to  Sir  Henry  Wyatt  does  not  appear  to  be  extant. 

Sir  Henry  Wyatt  died  at  Allington  in  1531.  His  character 
and  life  are  eloquently  set  forth  by  his  son,  Sir  Thomas,  in  the 
hitter's  first  letter  to  his  own  son,  Thomas  Wyatt  the  younger. 
This  tribute  to  the  excellences  of  his  father's  character  must 
have  been  written  almost  immediately  after  Sir  Henry's  decease, 
as  Sir  Thomas  was  at  the  time  in  Spain,  whence  he  returned  to 
England  in  1539.  By  his  wife  Anne,  daughter  of  John  Skinner, 
of  Reigate  in  Surrey,-  Sir  Henry  Wyatt  left  three  children,  —  a 
daughter,  Margaret,  who  married  Sir  Anthony  Lee ;  and  two 
sons,  Thomas  and  Henry.  Of  these,  the  younger  brother, 
Henry,  lived  the  life  of  a  retired  gentleman  of  means,  presuma- 
bly in  Kent ; 3  while  the  elder,  Thomas,  is  known  to  us  not  only 
as  a  successful  courtier  and  diplomat,  but  even  better  as  a  poet 
of  no  mean  fame,  in  connection  with  his  friend  Henry  Howard, 
Earl  of  Surrey,  reputed  for  one  of  "  the  two  chief  lanternes  of 
light  to  all  others  that  have  since  employed  their  pennes  upon 
English  Poesie."  4 

Thomas  Wyatt  the  poet  was  born  at  Allington  Castle  in  tl 
year  1503.     He  was  entered  as  student  at  St.  John's  College  at 
Cambridge  in  1515,  where,  three  years  later,  he  took  his  degree 
of  B.  A.,  and  his  Master's  degree  in  1520. 

It  was  customary  then  for  young  men  of  rank  to  spend  some 
time  at  Paris  immediately  after  leaving  the  university  ;  and  there- 
fore it  has  been  a  matter  of  conjecture  whether  or  no  the  poet 
visited  France  at  this  time.  No  record  of  such  visit,  however, 
has  as  yet  been    discovered,  and  it  is  still  uncertain  whether 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  iii.  2852.  Compare  also  Nos.  2S76,  2956, 
3023,  3177,  32S2,  3375,  3542,  3597,  3650. 

2  Collins's  Peerage,  iii.  42S.        3  Heralds'  College,  Essex,  c.  21,  1634. 
4  Puttenham's  Arte  of  English  Poesie  (Arber's  ed  )  p.  76. 


H 


SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 


Wyatt  caught  his  first  glimpse  of  Continental  life  at  this  or  a 
later  period.  It  is  certain  that  Wyatt's  marriage  must  have 
taken  place  about  this  time;  i.  <?.,  in  1520  or  1521,  when  he 
was  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  This  fact  we  learn  from  the 
inquisition  made  immediately  after  the  poet's  death,  in  October, 
1542,  wherein  his  son  Thomas  is  referred  to  as  being  "of  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upwards,"  which  would  place  his 
birth  in  the  year  15  2 1.1  The  lady  whom  Wyatt  married  was 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Brooke,  Lord  Cobham. 

Wyatt  now  entered  upon  his  career  of  success.  The  esteem 
in  which  his  father  was  held  at  Court  would  naturally  have  served 
him  as  a  passport  to  the  good-will  of  his  sovereign,  and  the 
young  man's  own  endowments,  both  of  mind  and  body,  were  of 
a  nature  to  make  him  popular  with  his  associates,  and  to  win  the 
friendship  of  the  king.  Wyatt  soon  became  prominent  among 
Henry's  courtiers,  and  noted  as  a  man  of  influence  at  Court, 
enjoying  the  royal  favor  in  an  unusual  degree. 

Very  little  of  actual  record  has  come  down  to  us  respecting 
the  poet's  life  at  this  period.  It  has  been  taken  for  granted 
that  he  was  engaged  either  in  attendance  at  the  Court  or  in 
serving  with  the  army  as  a  volunteer.  The  supposition  is  that 
much  of  his  leisure  time  was  devoted  to  literary  pursuits  and  to 
the  usual  employments  of  a  gentleman  of  his  talents  and  posi- 
tion. Edward  Hall,  the  chronicler  of  Henry's  reign,  describes 
a  feat  of  arms  performed  before  the  king  at  Greenwich  on 
■Christmas  Day  of  1525,  and  says  that  Thomas  Wyatt,' then  an 
esquire  of  the  royal  household,  was  one  of  the  fourteen  chal- 
lengers on  that  occasion.2  In  1527,  as  is  well  known,  the 
young  courtier  joined  the  company  of  Sir  John  Russell,  special 
ambassador  to  Rome,  and  with  that  nobleman  travelled  to  some 
extent  in  Italy.  A  record,  likewise  familiar,  has  come  down  to 
us  from  the  year  1533,  which  mentions  the  service  performed 

1  Nott,  p.  lxxiv. 

2  A  description  of  this  feat  of  arms  is  given  by  Dr.  Nott  in  the  prefa- 
tory memoir,  p.  ix. 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  j, 

by  Thomas  Wyatt,  in  place  of  his  father.  Sir  Henry,  at  the  royal 
banquet  given  in  honor  of  the  coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn. 
With  the  exception  of  these  three  incidents,  Wyatt's  biogra- 
phers have  thrown  no  light  hitherto  on  the  circumstances  of 
the  poet's  life  until  the  advent  of  the  year  1536.  Happily  the 
publication  of  recent  volumes  in  the  series  of  "  Calendars  of 
State  Papers,"  issued  under  the  direction  of  the  Master  of  the 
Rolls,  has  made  us  acquainted  with  certain  other  records  here- 
tofore inaccessible,  and  has  brought  to  light  a  few  additional 
facts  in  the  life  of  the  poet-statesman  which  add  quite  materi- 
ally to  the  rather  scant  biography  we  have  until  now  possessed. 

The  earliest  mention  of  the  poet's  name  occurs  with  no  fur- 
ther comment  in  a  list  of  names  of  persons  comprising  the  royal 
household  for  the  year  15 16.  Sir  Henry  Wyatt  was  a  member 
of  the  household  as  Knight  of  the  Body ;  and  Sir  Henry's  thir- 
teen-year old  son  was  at  that  time  learning  to  serve  his  royal 
master  in  the  character  of  page.  Both  facts  are  attested  by  the 
list,  the  name  of  "  Th.  Wyet "  being  placed  among  those  of 
the  "  Sewers  Extraordinary  "  to  the  king.1 

From  a  paper,  early  in  the  series,  but  removed  by  several 
years  from  the  record  above  cited,  we  learn  that  Sir  Henry 
Wyatt,  in  his  capacity  of  Treasurer  of  the  Chamber,  was  em- 
ployed in  collecting  and  disbursing  moneys  destined  for  use  in 
the  war  with  France.  It  was  in  connection  with  one  of  those 
forced  loans  or  subsidies  demanded  by  Henry's  minister  which 
brought  such  a  storm  of  popular  indignation  about  the  cardi- 
nal's head.  But  this  record  of  accounts  is  of  interest  to  us 
solely  from  the  fact  that  we  find  the  name  of  Thomas  Wyatt 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  performance  of  his  father's 
duties.  On  several  occasions  it  became  necessary  to  forward 
money  "  for  the  king's  affairs  in  the  North,"  requiring  to  be 
delivered  at  the  Abbey  of  St.  Mary's  in  York.  Twice  was 
the  conveyance  and  delivery  of  this  money  intrusted  to  young 
Wyatt,  —  once  in  October,  and  again  in  November  of  the  year 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  ii.  2735. 


1 6  SIX   THOMAS   WYATT 

1523.  The  sum  in  each  case  amounted  to  ^"2000. *  In  addi- 
tion to  the  entry  in  Sir  Henry's  own  account,  we  find  later 
on  a  release  to  the  Abbot  of  St.  Mary's,  in  which  reference  is 
made  to  both  sums  received  by  hand  of  Thomas  Wyatt.2  If 
for  no  other  reason,  these  entries  are  of  interest  as  at  least  fix- 
ing the  presence  of  Wyatt  in  England,  and  affording  a  hint,  if 
no  more,  as  to  his  employment  at  this  time. 

In  March  of  the  year  1526  Henry  VIII.  despatched  a  special 
ambassador  to  the  King  of  France  to  felicitate  the  latter  upon 
his  escape  from  the  hands  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  and  his 
return  to  his  own  realm.  This  ambassador  was  Sir  Thomas 
Cheney,  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council.3  He  arrived  at  Bor- 
deaux on  the  6th  of  April ; 4  and  among  the  gentlemen  of  his 
suite  was  Thomas  Wyatt.  In  May  we  find  the  Court  at  Cognac  ; 
here  it  became  necessary  to  transmit  a  message  of  special  im- 
portance to  the  king,  and  Wyatt  was  selected  by  the  ambassa- 
dor to  fulfil  this  duty ;  he  was  also  charged  to  inform  Henry 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  iv.  214.  Loan  for  the  war  with  France. 
(Account  of  Sir  Henry  Wyat,  treasurer  of  the  Chamber,  of  the  money 
paid  to  him  by  the  collectors  of  divers  shires.  14  Henry  VIII.)  Among 
the  "  Payments  of  the  Loan  money  made  by  Wiat,"  1  July  to  I  April, 
15  Henry  VIII. 

Sent  by  Thos.  Wiatt,  to  be  conveyed  to  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  York,  for 
the  king's  affairs  in  the  North,  26  October,  ^2000,  and  20  November, 
^2000,  his  costs  £17  is. 

2  Ibid.,  2322.  The  Subsidy.  Release  to  Edm.  Whalley,  Abbot  of 
St.  Mary,  York,  receiver  of  the  subsidy  in  the  province  of  York,  of  the 
following  sums  received  by  him  :  ^20,000  of  Sir  Hen.  Wyat,  treasurer  of 
the  king's  chamber,  by  the  hand  of  Thos.  Draper  ;  ^2000  from  the  same 
by  Thos.  Wyet,  Esq. ;  another  ^"2000  from  and  by  the  same.  Del. 
Westm.  16  July,  18  Hen.  VIII. 

3  Ibid.,  iv.  2037,  Wolsey  to  Francis  I.  The  king  is  rejoiced  at 
Francis's  return  to  his  realm.  Sends  Sir  Thos.  Cheyney  to  reside 
as  ambassador  with  Dr.  Tailleur.  Desires  credence  for  him.  (Wolsey 
writes  to  the  same  effect  to  Robertet,  under  date  —  Westm.,  20  March, 
1526.) 

4  Ibid.,  2075.  Sir  Thos.  Cheyne  to  Wolsey.  "Arrived  here  between 
7  and  8  a.  m.  yesterday."    Bordeaux,  7  April,  1526. 


AXD  HIS  POEMS.  17 

more  at  length  of  men  and  manners  as  he  had  observed  them 
at  the  Court  of  France.  The  letter  signed  by  the  envoy  and 
by  the  resident  ambassador  closes  with  a  most  complimentary 
reference  to  the  young  man's  sagacity  and  talent,  —  the  earliest 
comment  we  possess  upon  the  characteristic  qualities  of  the 
future  diplomat.1  That  the  Wyatt  here  referred  to  is  not  Sir 
Henry,  as  Mr.  Brewer  deems,  but  his  son  Thomas,  is  hardly  to 
be  doubted.  Confirmatory  evidence  is  at  hand  in  a  note  of 
Wolsey's  to  the  king,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  arrival  of  this 
message  from  the  ambassadors,  and  refers  to  despatches  for 
"  young  YVvat,"  who  returns  therewith  to  France.-  Sir  Henry 
was  now  full  five  and  sixty  years  of  age  ;  it  is  incredible  that  he 
be  the  person  meant ;  and  we  know  nothing  of  the  existence 
of  any  other  Wyatt  at  this  time  busy  in  affairs  of  Court.  The 
fact  seems  to  be  that  the  young  courtier  was  serving  what  was 
perhaps  a  recognized  apprenticeship  in  the  art  of  diplomacy. 
It  was  the  custom  then,  as  it  has  been  since,  for  young  men  of 
rank  and  promise  to  be  employed  in  just  such  service,  that  they 
might  acquire  a  practical  experience  in  diplomatic  methods,  and 
thus  become  qualified  to  discharge  important  missions  under 
credentials  of  their  own.  The  last  allusion  among  the  papers  to 
Wyatt's  present  visit  is  under  date  of  2 1  May,  when  Cheney,  writ- 
ing to  Henry,  describes  an  interview  with  Francis  and  says  : 

"We  told  him  the  gentleman  had  returned  who  had  been  dis- 
patched to  England.  He  said  he  would  be  joyous  to  hear  from 
your  Highness,  his  most  dear  and  loving  brother.  Presented 
Wyatt,  who  with  good  and  discreet  behaviour  declared  the  same 
accordingly]."3 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  2135.  Cheyne  and  Tayler  to  Wolsey. 
"  Send  the  bearer  Wyatt,  who  can  show  your  Grace  of  a  part  of  the 
commodities  belonging  to  this  house,  and  in  likewise  of  the  n[ames] 
and  countenance  of  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen  hereunto  .  .  .  daily  ; 
for  he  hath  been  at  the  Court  with  us  from  time  to  [time],  and  as  we 
think,  hath  as  much  wit  to  mark  and  remember  every  thing  he  saith  as 
any  young  man  hath  in  England."     Cognac,  1  May,  1526. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.,  2163.  3  Ibid.,  2194. 

2 


1 8  S/7?   THOMAS   WYATT 

Cheney  was  recalled  that  same  month ;  and  as  no  further 
mention  is  made  of  Wyatt's  name,  we  presume  he  returned  to 
England  in  the  ambassador's  company. 

It  was  just  about  one  year  subsequent  to  this  that  Wyatt 
accompanied  Sir  John  Russell  on  his  embassy  to  the  Pope. 
The  fact  is  now  authenticated,  and  the  circumstances,  so  far  as 
known,  are  so  familiar  as  to  call  for  no  extended  reference  here. 
In  a  letter  written  from  Rome  under  date  n  February,  1527, 
Russell  writes  to  Wolsey  of  their  arrival  thus  :  — 

"  I,  Russell,  arrived  at  Civita  Vecchia  on  the  4th.  Remained 
a  day  and  a  half  before  I  could  get  horses,  although  Andrea  Doreo  • 
did  what  he  could,  and  accompanied  me  with  certain  foot  and  hand 
guns.  We  arrived  here  the  second  day  after  our  departure  thence, 
and  the  Pope  sent  me  a  Turkey  horse  on  which  he  rides  himself, 
with  another  for  Mr.  Wyatt,  and  good  horses  for  my  company." 1 

One  incident  of  this  journey  deserves  more  prominence  than 
has  hitherto  been  accorded  it.  Sir  John  Russell,  it  appears, 
about  setting  forth  from  Rome  on  his  way  to  Venice,  met  with 
some  slight  accident,  —  a  fall  from  his  horse,  or  something  of 
the  kind,  —  which  was  serious  enough  to  hinder  his  proceed- 
ing ;  so  while  the  ambassador  remained  at  Narni,  Wyatt  was 
despatched  to  Venice,  where  he  arrived  safely,  and,  with  the 
letters,  waited  on  the  Venetian  Council.2  This  duty  done,  the 
young  Englishman,  desirous  of  seeing  the  country,  and  "  pre- 
tending soon  to  come  by  Bologna  and  Florence  "  to  Rome, 
made  a  pleasure-trip  to  Ferrara.  His  excursion  ended,  how- 
ever, rather  disastrously  in  his  capture  by  Spanish  troops  of 
the  emperor,  who,  in  spite  of  Wyatt's  safe-conduct  from  the 
Duke  of  Ferrara,  demanded  a  ransom  of  three  thousand  ducats. 
The  affair  proved  serious  ;  and  a  tedious  course  of  negotiation 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  iv.  2875. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  2931.  Russell,  having  met  with  an  accident,  remains  at 
Narni  and  sends  Wyatt  with  his  letters  to  Sir  Gregory  Casale  at  Venice, 
who  goes  with  Wyatt  to  the  Venetian  Council.  (Letter  from  Casale  dated 
March  2,  1527.) 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  ,  , 

seemed  inevitable,  when  the  matter  was  somewhat  prematurely 
settled  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  prisoner  at  Bol 

where   he   seems  to  have  arrived  when  least   expected.1      It  is 
not  quite  clear  whether  Wyatt   escaped,  or  owed   his  rek 
the  efforts  of  his  friends.-     From  the  tone  of  the  letters  writ- 
ten by  Russell  and  Casale  reporting  the  incident  to  Wolsey,  it 

may  be  gathered  that  the  ambassadors  were  a  trifle  ex< 
at  Wyatt's  escapade;  the  two  letters  which  are  appended  tuna 
quite  a  contrast  to  Cheney*s  letter,  written  from  France  th 
before,  so  commendatory  in  its  reference  to  Wyatt's  wit  and 
bearing.  Although  no  blame  attaches  itself  to  the  young  atta- 
che because  of  this  incident  in  the  Italian  journey,  its  occur- 
rence may  nevertheless  illustrate  a  certain  daring,  a  heedlessness 
of  consequences,  which  seems  to  have  marked  his  character  at 
this  time,  and  which  occasionally  betrayed  him  into  situations  of 
unjustifiable  exposure.  The  party  remained  in  Italy  until  about 
the  first  of  May,  when  they  returned  to  England. 

The  next  fact  of  importance  noted  occurs  under  date  of  the 
following  year ;  but  before  proceeding  to  consider  that,  it  is 
necessary  to  discuss  another  matter  which  here  finds  its  appro- 
priate place.  It  has  been  recently  suggested  upon  dubious 
authority  that  Thomas  Wyatt  succeeded  his  father  in  the  office 
of  treasurer  of  the  Chamber.  The  assertion  appears  to  have 
been  first  made  by  Mr.  John  Payne  Collier,  in  his  edition  of  the 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  iv.  301 1.  Russell  and  Casale  to  Wolsey. 
Wyatt  went  to  Venice  after  Russell's  hurt,  then  to  Ferrara,  being  desirous 
of  seeing  the  country,  "  pretending  soon  to  come  by  P>ologna  and  Flor- 
ence hither."  Notwithstanding  the  Duke's  safe-conduct,  he  was  taken  by 
the  Spaniards.  They  demanded  three  thousand  ducats  for  his  ransom, 
notwithstanding  Russell's  protestations.  He  has  since  managed  to  escape. 
Rome,  April  1,  r  -27. 

-  The  uncertainty  is  due  to  the  existence  of  the  following  :  — 
Calendar,  iv.  3023.  John  Casale,  prothonotarv  to  Wolsey.  The  troops 
who  were  collecting  necessaries  at  Ferrara  have  been  sent  for,  as  he  \\  ill 
see  by  the  enclosed  letter  of  a  servant  of  his,  whom  he  had  sent  thither 
to  obtain  the  liberation  of  Wyatt,  which  he  has  at  last  effected.  April  6, 
1527. 


20  MX    THOMAS   WYATT 

Trevelyan  Papers,  where  he  calls  attention  to  a  certain  entry 
in  which  former  incumbents  of  this  office  are  named  in  order ; 
in  this  list  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt's  name  immediately  precedes  that 
of  Sir  Brian  Tuke.  In  a  foot-note,  Collier  draws  attention  to 
the  entry,  and  announces  the  discovery  of  the  supposed  fact 
that  Sir  Thomas  had  thus  succeeded  his  father  as  treasurer.1  It 
is  a  singular  coincidence  that  in  the  State  Papers  Calendar, 
iv.  3104,  under  date  of  May  7,  1527,  is  a  record  of  payments 
made  "  by  Sir  Henry  Gwildeforde,  knight,  and  Sir  Thomas  Wyat, 
knight,  in  building  a  banketing  house  at  the  King  his  manor  of 
Greenwich."  To  this  entry  Brewer  adds  a  parenthesis  :  "  In  a 
later  hand."  Following  immediately  upon  this  the  same  account 
enumerates  sums  of  money  received  by  Sir  Henry  Guildeforde 
"  and  of  Sir  Henry  Wiat,  treasurer  of  the  Chamber."  The  coinci- 
dence lies  in  the  fact  that  this  entry  "  in  a  later  hand  "  occurs 
at  just  the  date  to  substantiate  Mr.  Collier's  theory ;  Sir  Brian 
Tuke  having  been  appointed  treasurer  in  1528.  This  mention 
of  "  Sir  Thomas  Wyat "  is  of  course  an  error,  and  is  noted  as 
such  by  the  editor  of  the  Calendar  in  the  Notes  and  Errata, 
P-  3535-  During  the  year  1527,  the  period  in  question,  we  find 
several  entries  proving  conclusively  that  Sir  Henry  retained  the 
office  down  to  April,  1528,  when  Sir  Brian  Tuke  was  appointed 
to  succeed  him.'2  Having  thus  disposed  of  a  bit  of  false  biog- 
raphy, we  now  come  to  the  notice  of  a  fact  which  helps  to  throw 
considerable  light  upon  a  period  in  the  poet's  life  long  involved 
in  obscurity. 

1  Trevelyan  Papers,  part  ii.  ;  Sir  William  Cavendishe's  Book,  p.  12. 

2  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  iv.  3121.  Receipt  by  Raphael  Maruffus  of 
a  certain  sum  of  money  "  by  the  hands  of  Sir  Henry  Wyatt,  treasurer." 
May  15,1527. 

Ibid.,  3380.  The  Earl  of  Northumberland's  Accounts.  10,  ii.  For  a 
loan  to  the  king  paid  to  Sir  Harry  Wyatt,  £  100. 

Ibid.,  3739.  Wm.  Kebyll.  Order  from  Sir  Henry  Wyat  to  John  Jen- 
yns  for  the  payment  of  fifty  ...  to  Wm  Kebyll,  towards  making  New 
Year's  gifts. 

Ibid.,  4170.  Brian  Tuke.  To  be  treasurer  of  the  Chamber  vice  Sir 
Henry  Wyat.    Del.  Hampton  Court,  13  April,  19  Hen.  VIII. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  2\ 

Among  the  papers  which  the  Calendar  now  brings  into  notice 
we  find  an  account  of  salaries  paid  to  the  different  officers  at 

Calais  for  the  year  152.S  ;  and  in  this  account  there  is  a  list  of 
the  various  officials  comprising  the  Council  of  Calais  for  that 
year.  One  of  the  names  enumerated  is  that  of  Thos.  Wyott, 
Esq.,  high  marshal,  with  a  command  of  sixteen  men.1 

In  September  he  is  still  there,  and  receives  a  license  to  im- 
port Gaseony  wine  and  Toulouse  wood.'2  In  June,  1530,  he 
receives  a  second  grant  "  To  be  marshal  of  the  town,"  etc.,  of 
Calais.3  No  copy  of  the  original  grant  has  as  yet  been  found 
among  the  papers.  In  November,  1530,  Sir  Edward  Ryngely 
is  appointed  "  marshal  of  the  town  and  marches  of  Calais  .  .  . 
vice  Thomas  Wyat,  squire  of  the  Body."4  There  can  be  no 
question  here  as  to  identity.  Contemporary  writers  refer  to 
Wyatt's  military  service,5  and  it  has  always  been  supposed  that 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  iv.  5102  (2).  An  account  of  the  salaries  of 
the  different  officers  at  Calais,  with  an  estimate  of  the  charge  for  one  year. 

I.  The  Council  :  Sir  Robt.  Wyngfeld,  deputy  .  .  .  Thos.  Wyott,  Esq., 
high  marshal,  at  zs.  a  day,  and  20  marks  in  reward  by  year;  5  men  under 
him,  each  at  S</.  a  day,  and  11  at  6d.  a  day. 

1  Ibid.,  iv.  5978.  Grants  in  September,  1529  (26).  Thos.  Wyat,  squire 
of  the  Body,  and  marshal  of  Calais.  License  to  import  1000  tuns  of  Gas- 
coigne  wine  or  Tolles  (Toulouse)  woad.  Del.  lc  More,  26  Sept.  21  Hen. 
VIIL 

d  Ibid,  iv.  6490.  Grants  in  June,  1530(23).  Thos  Wyat,  squire  of 
the  Body.  To  be  marshal  of  the  town,  etc.,  of  Calais,  with  the  same 
number  of  soldiers  as  Sir  John  Wallop  or  Sir  Edward  Guldeforde  or 
any  other  marshal  of  the  said  town  and  marches  had  and  with  the  same 
fees.     Windsor  Castle,  n  June,  22  lien.  VII I.     Del.  Wcstm.,  3  June. 

4  Ibid.,  iv.  6751.  Grants  in  November,  1530  (24).  Sir  Edward  Rynge- 
ley.  To  be  marshal  of  the  town  and  marches  of  Calais;  to  hold  the  said 
office  in  like  manner  as  John  Wallop  and  Edward  Guldeford  held  the  same, 

Thos.   Wyat,  scpiire  of    the  Body.     York  Place,  22   Nov.,  22    Hen 
VIII.     /;<•/.  Westm,24  Nov. 

5  Lei  and,  Naenia,  v.  52. 

u  Inter  Coelicolas  nuper  certamen  obortum  ; 
Dissidii  vero  causa  Viatus  erat. 
Mars  ait ;  'Est  noster  juvenilis  fortissimus  ille.' 
Phoebus  at,  '  Ingenii  flos  '  ait  '  ille  meus.'  " 


22  SIX    THOMAS   WYATT 

it  was  at  this  period  that  such  service  was  performed.  If  con- 
firmatory evidence  were  required,  it  would  be  found  in  the 
record  of  a  grant  in  May  of  1530,  by  which  John  Williams  is 
appointed  to  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  king's  jewels,  which  office 
was  granted  by  patent,  October  21,  1524,  to  "Thomas  Wyat, 
esquire  of  the  Royal  Body,  son  and  heir  of  [Sir]  Henry  Wyat."1 
It  is  most  unlikely  that  there  were  two  Thomas  Wyatts  at  one 
time  esquires  of  the  Body ;  and  as  the  Thomas  Wyatt,  marshal 
of  Calais,  and  the  Thomas,  son  of  Sir  Henry,  were  each  desig- 
nated as  esquire  of  the  Body,  it  is  probable  that  they  were  one 
and  the  same  person ;  it  becomes  pretty  clearly  evident,  there- 
fore, that  the  marshal  of  Calais  was  the  Wyatt  of  these  .memoirs. 
As  to  the  exact  date  of  Wryatt's  appointment,  there  is  uncertainty, 
owing  to  apparent  confusion  in  the  records  cited.  If  Sir  John 
Wallop  was  promoted  to  the  lieutenancy  of  Calais  Castle  by 
patent  of  June  23,  1530,  but  holding  the  office  from  October  6, 
1 5 29, 2  it  is  probable  that  Wyatt,  who  received  his  grant  on  the 
same  day  with  Wallop,  entered  upon  his  duties  at  about  the 
same  date  as  the  latter,  whom  he  succeeded  on  the  latter's  pro- 
motion. But  in  the  grant  of  September,  1529,  Wyatt  has  the 
title  of  marshal,  and  even  as  early  as  the  end  of  1528  we  find 
his  name  upon  the  list  of  officers  above  referred  to.  Despite 
this  uncertainty,  it  is  without  doubt  a  fact  that  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  years  1529-30  Thomas  Wyatt  was  serving  the  inter- 
ests of  the  king  in  the  somewhat  responsible  position  of  high 
marshal  of  Calais.     It  must  not  be  overlooked,  either,  that  from 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vol.  iv.  Notes  and  Errata,  p.  3537,  6418. 
Grants  in  May,  1530.  (S)  John  Wylliams.  To  be  clerk  of  the  king's 
jewels  with  20  marks  a  year,  after  the  death  or  surrender  of  Thomas 
Wyat,  esquire  of  the  Royal  Body,  son  and  heir  of  [Sir]  Henry  Wyat,  who 
holds  the  office  by  patent  21  Oct.,  16  Hen.  VIII.  Greenwich,  6  Apr.,  22 
Hen.  VIII.    Del.  Westm.,  8  May. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  6490  (23).  (Following  first  grant  to  Thos.  Wyat.)  Sir  John 
Walop.  To  be  lieutenant  of  Calais  Castle  from  6  Oct.  last,  with  49 
soldiers,  etc. 

Dated  :  Windsor  Castle,  13  June,  22  Hen.  VIII.    Del.  Westm.,  23  June. 


A  AD  HIS  POEMS.  23 

October,  1524,  until  May,  1 53 1 ,  Wyatt  held  the  office  of  clerk 
of  the  king's  jewels.  We  have  already  produced  a  grant  under 
date  of  May,  1530,  in  which  John  Williams  is  appointed  to  suc- 
ceed Wyatt  on  the  hitter's  death,  or  on  surrender  of  his  patent. 
This  surrender  actually  took  place  in  153 1,  when  the  real  grant 
of  the  office  followed.1 

Two  or  three  unimportant  records  occur  during  this  same  year.8 
Of  greater  importance  is  the  notice  of  the  appointment  of  Wyatt 
in  February,  1532,  to  be  a  commissioner  of  the  peace  for  Essex.3 

This  same  year  of  1532  was  signalized  by  the  fall  of  Wolsey. 
Dr.  Nott  refers  to  the  hostility  of  both  the  Wyatts,  and  thinks 
that  Thomas  Wyatt  contributed  to  the  causes  that  brought 
about  the  cardinal's  ruin.4 

At  the  coronation  of  Queen  Anne  Boleyn  in  June  of  1533, 
Wyatt  served  as  representative  for  his  father  in  performing 
the  duties  of  ewerer  to  the  king  on  the  occasion  of  the  royal 
banquet.5 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  v.  27S  (10).  John  Williams.  Grant  in 
reversion  of  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  king's  jewels,  with  fees  of  20  marks 
a  year,  which  office  was  granted  hy  patent  21  Oct.  16  Henry  VIII.  to 
Thomas  Wiat,  esquire  of  the  Royal  Body,  son  and  heir  of  Henry  Wyat. 

Westm.,  S  May.    Pat.  23  Men.  VII L 

2  Ibid.,  v.  119(71).  William  Bunsall,  of  Bloffleming,  Cornw.,  tanner. 
Pardon  for  having  on  the  Sth  Feh.  20  Hen.  VIII.,  with  others,  robbed 
Thomas  Wyatt  at  Bloffleming  of  certain  property.  York  Place,  24  Feb. 
22  Hen.  VIII.    Del.  Westm.,  27  P^eb. 

Ibid.,  12S5  (5).  Cromwell's  " Obligations  and  Bills."  "  Inventory  of 
the  desperat  bills  remaining  in  the  custody  of  the  said  John  Williams." 
.  .  .  Alen  Ilawte  (for  Thos.  Wyat's  debt  to  the  king). 

8  Ibid.,  v.  S38  (13).  Commissioners  of  the  Peace.  Among  the  names 
upon  the  list  for  Essex  is  that  of   "Thos.  Wyott." 

4  Nott,  Memoirs,  xxxii. 

5  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vi.  601.  Coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn.  .  .  . 
Order  and  sitting  at  dinner.  "  Thos.  Wiat  was  chief  sewer  for  his  father, 
Sir  Henry."  June  S,   1533. 

Ibid.,  701.  Anne  Boleyn's  Coronation  .  .  .  Officers  and  noblemen 
with  others  who  did  service  until  the  morrow  after  Midsummer  Day,  25 
Hen.  VIII.,  etc.  "Sir  Henry  Wyatt  chief  ewer,  supplied  by  K#son 
Thos.  Wyatt."     June  25,   1533. 


24 


S/fi    THOMAS    WYATT 


Under  date  of  May  15,  1534,  a  letter  written  by  John  Roke- 
wood  to  Lord  Lisle,  who  was  then  commandant  at  Calais,  re- 
lates that  "On  Wednesday  there  was  a  great  affray  between 
Mr.  Wyatte  and  the  sergeants  of  London,  in  which  one  of  the 
sergeants  was  slain.  For  this  Mr.  Wyatt  is  committed  to  the 
Fleet."1  Gairdner  (the  successor  of  Mr.  Brewer  in  the  editing 
of  the  Calendars)  indexes  this  letter  under  the  name  of  Sir 
Henry  Wyatt ;  but  Sir  Henry  was  now  in  his  seventy-fourth 
year,  and  it  is  rather  improbable  that  the  poet's  father  is  the 
Wyatt  here  referred  to.  Sir  Thomas's  own  son,  the  younger 
Thomas  Wyatt,  was  only  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  pro- 
bably not  sufficiently  precocious  to  become  involved  in  an 
affray  of  this  kind,  and  get  himself  clapped  into  the  Fleet  at 
that  early  date.  There  is  of  course  the  possibility  that  some 
other  person  of  the  name  is  the  one  to  whom  reference  is  made  ; 
but  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not,  on  the  other  hand, 
refer  the  adventure  to  the  poet  himself.  It  is  doubtful  if  any 
other  Wyatt  were  in  a  position  then  to  create  such  a  distur- 
bance ;  nor  is  the  incident  out  of  keeping  with  what  we  sup- 
pose Wyatt's  character  to  have  been  at  this  period,  when,  if 
we  may  judge  from  his  own  self- arraignment  in  the  first  letter 
to  his  son,  a  boldness  in  adventure  and  a  certain  amount  of 
heedlessness  as  to  consequences  brought  him  "  into  a  thousand 
dangers  and  hazards,  enmities,  hatreds,  prisonments,  despites, 
and  indignations."  2  Here  undoubtedly  the  father,  in  his  de- 
sire to  impress  a  useful  lesson  on  the  boy,  has  been  too  zealous 
in  charging  his  own  youth  with  an  over- weight  of  folly ;  still 
there  is  presumably  a  degree  of  sincerity  in  the  self-rebuke, 
and  more  or  less  ground  in  reality  to  warrant  regret  and  dissat- 
isfaction at  the  recollections  of  earlier  years.  To  be  sure,  this 
famous  letter  was  written  only  four  years  later  than  the  occur- 
rence of  this  incident  in  London  :  but  Wyatt  became  a  changed 
man  within  the  limit  of  those  four  years,  and  we  may  look  upon 

ih  J  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vii.  674. 

2  Letter  to  his  son,  Nott,  p.  269;  Aid.  ed ,  lvi. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  25 

the  events  of  the  year  1536  as  marking  the  turning-point  in 
his  career.  It  may  be  well  to  note  that  this  affray  occurred  in 
the  month  of  May  ;  and  Wyatt,  in  one  of  his  later  sonnets, 
speaks  of 

"th1  haps  most  unhappy 
That  me  betide  in  May  most  commonly."1 

Another  ground  for  referring  this  affair  to  Wyatt  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  writer  of  this  letter  had  been  under- 
marshal  at  Calais  during  the  period  of  YVyatt's  service  there, 
and  was.  it  is  likely,  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  him  ;  hence  it 
was  natural  enough  for  Rokewood  to  report  the  occurrence  to 
Lord  Lisle  as  a  matter  of  special  interest,  perhaps  to  both. 
No  serious  consequences  further  than  a  short  detention  seem 
to  have  resulted  from  the  incident.  In  the  month  following, 
Wyatt  received  an  important  command  in  the  king's  army,  with 
license  to  keep  twenty  men  in  livery.2 

In  February  and  March  of  the  year  1535  an  interesting  cor- 
respondence appears  to  have  taken  place,  traces  of  which  are 
found  in  the  form  of  three  letters  still  existing  among  the  State 
Papers.  This  correspondence  is  in  regard  to  the  bestowal  of 
the  stewardship  of  Westmalling  Abbey,  then  vacant  through  the 
death  of  the  former  incumbent.  This  stewardship  must  have 
been  a  profitable  holding ;  for  the  vacant  office  seems  to  have 
been  coveted  by  several  gentlemen  of  note.  Most  prominent 
among  the  applicants  were  Richard  Cromwell,  kinsman  of 
Henry's  minister,  and  Thomas  Wyatt,  whose  suit  received  the 
favor  and  support  of  the  king.  There  was,  moreover,  a  third 
claimant,  Sir  Edward  Wotton,  who,  by  right  of  a  former  pro- 
mise made   by  the  abbess,  received,  and  for  a  short    time  at 

1  Sonnet  :  "  Ye  that  in  love  ..."     Nott,  p.  5;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  5. 

2  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vii.  922  (17).  Thomas  Wiatt,  esquire  of 
the  Royal  Body.  Grant  for  life  of  the  conduct  and  command  of  all  men 
able  for  war  in  the  seven  hundreds  of  co.  Kent,  the  parishes  of  Ten- 
derden,  Gowderst,  Stapleherst,  and  in  the  Isle  of  Oxney,  Kent  ;  with 
license  to  have  twenty  men  in  his  livery.  Del.  Wcstm.,  23  June,  26 
Hen.  VIII. 


26  SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 

least  held,  the  office  ;  but  fearful  of  bringing  down  upon  his  own 
head  the  displeasure  of  the  minister,  he  seems  to  have  surren- 
dered his  patent  and  to  have  joined  the  rest  in  urging  Wyatt's 
suit  upon  the  abbess,  Cromwell  meanwhile  having  naturally 
withdrawn  that  of  his  nephew.  The  abbess  appears  to  have 
been  incorrigible,  however,  with  fear  of  neither  king  nor  min- 
ister before  her  eyes ;  and  as  to  the  actual  result  of  the  matter, 
the  correspondence  gives  no  light.  The  first  letter  in  the  series 
is  addressed  to  Thos.  Wyat,  Esq.,  by  Eliz.  Rede,  abbess  of 
Mailing.     In  it  the  abbess  says:  — 

"  I  have  received  the  King's  letter  for  you  to  be  high  steward  of 
our  house.  Half  a  year  ago  I  promised  it  to  Sir  Thos.  Wil- 
loughby  for  his  son,  after  the  death  of  master  Fisher.  I  have 
also  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Secretary  for  a  kinsman  of  his 
(Ric.  Cromwell),  and  have  informed  him  of  my  promise,  and  also 
that  if  Sir  Thos.  Willoughby  is  contented  to  absolve  me,  Mr. 
Secretary  shall  have  it.  Sir  Thos.  Nevill  has  also  written  to  me 
to  have  the  said  office  for  himself,  and  I  have  promised  that  if  he 
can  obtain  the  favor  of  master  Secretary  and  Mr.  Willoughby,  he 
shall  have  it.  If  I  had  known  the  King's  pleasure  before,  you 
should  have  had  it."     Westmallyng,  Feb.  20,  1535.1 

The  second  letter  (dated  Bocton  Malherbe,  Saturday,  Feb. 
27,  15352)  is  from  Sir  Edw.  Wotton  to  Cromwell.  In  this 
letter  Sir  Edward  remonstrates  against  Cromwell's  urging  him 
by  his  letters  to  resign  his  patent  of  the  stewardship  of  the 
Abbey  of  Mailing,  the  king  having  written  to  the  abbess  in 
favor  of  Master  Thomas  Wyatt.  The  grant  he  obtained  under 
the  convent  seal  "  was  in  fulfillment  of  a  promise  of  the  Abbess 
many  years  past." 

The  third  letter,  likewise  from  Sir  Edw.  Wotton  to  Cromwell, 
is  of  special  interest,  not  only  as  throwing  a  side-light  upon 
men  and  manners  of  that  day,  but  as  revealing  something  of 
Wyatt's  position  at  Court,  and  attesting  Cromwell's  friendship 
and  the  favor  of  the  king.     It  contains  the  following :  — 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  viii.  249.  2  Ibid  ,  viii.  275. 


AXD   HIS  POEMS. 


27 


"On  my  return  home  I  went  to  Mailing  to  the  Abbess,  and  de- 
clared your  great  displeasure  towards  her  for  her  late  demeanor 
to  the  King  and  you  touching  the  high  stewardship  of  her  house, 
and  that  you  would  make  shortly  more  plainly  to  appear  to  her. 
1  told  her  I  could  reckon  no  way  of  help  unless  .she  would  make  a 
new  patent  of  the  office  under  her  convent  seal  to  Master  Wyatt, 
and  send  it  to  you  with  mine,  that  Wyat  might  see  it  was  can- 
celled. I  offered  to  restore  mine  to  her,  on  which  she  said  that 
if  I  would  so  do  she  would  cancel  it  before  my  face,  but  she  would 
make  no  promise  to  Wyat.  I  told  her  that  I  only  resigned  on 
condition  that  she  would  give  it  to  Wyat,  and  recover  your  fa- 
vour, and  that  she  must  think  me  of  very  mean  wit  if  I  would 
relinquish  my  hold  after  this  sort,  —  only  that  I  saw  more  danger 
to  her  than  commodity  to  myself  by  keeping  it.  Not  being  able 
to  discover  her  determination,  except  that  she  would  write  to  you, 
I  left  my  patent  with  her  and  departed,  not  a  little  in  her  displea- 
sure. She  said  she  might  have  bestowed  it  upon  others,  who 
would  '  much  better  have  shifted  therewith  '  than  I  have  done. 
Thus  I  have  lost  an  office  with  the  thanks  of  neither  party.  Be- 
seeching you  to  continue  good  master  to  me."  Bocton  Malherbe, 
6  March,  1535.1 

What  delicious  character-painting  this  is  !  In  the  background 
looms  the  iron  will  of  Cromwell,  which  the  politic  knight  is 
shrewd  to  see  and  dread.  How  expressive  is  that  phrase  : 
*  your  displeasure  .  .  .  that  you  would  make  shortly  more 
plainly  to  appear  to  her  ! "  And  yet,  with  no  evidence  to  the 
contrary,  who  knows  but  that  this  exasperating  lady  had  her 
way,  and  baffled  king,  minister,  and  all  !  Wyatt  himself  refers 
to  the  matter  so  late  as  June,  1537,  in  a  way  to  indicate  that  the 
affair  was  not  even  then  agreed  upon.  The  reference  occurs 
in  a  letter  written  to  Cromwell  just  as  Wyatt  is  on  the  point  of 
embarking  at  Hythe  on  his  way  to  Spain.     He  says  :  — 

".  .  .  I  humbly  recommend  unto  you  my  matter  of  Mallyng,  in 
which  I  found  at  the  King's  hands  so  good  inclination  that  I  am 
glad  of  the  hope  that  I  have,  which  is,  that  it  is  in  your  hands."2 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  viii.  349. 

2  This  letter  is  printed  in  the  Aid.  ed.,  p.  xxiii. 


28  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

In  this  same  letter  Wyatt  seems  to  speak  as  though  the  office 
were  really  his,  declaring  that  the  value  of  the  holding  is  scarcely 
forty  pounds  a  year  to  him ;  but  the  reference  is  obscure,  and 
some  other  property  may  be  meant.  A  search  among  the  De- 
crees of  the  Court  of  Augmentations  and  through  both  sets  of 
Conventual  Leases  fails  to  bring  to  light  any  enrolment  of  the 
deed  which  would  presumably  have  been  made  by  the  abbess 
and  convent,  in  case  the  office  had  been  conferred  upon  the 
poet. 

In  July  of  the  same  year,  1535,  Wyatt  leased  for  a  term  of 
eighty  years  the  estate  in  Yorkshire  known  as  Aryngden  Park.1 

The  year  1536  was  an  important  one  in  Wyatt's  life.  It  was 
the  year  of  the  trial  and  execution  of  Anne  Boleyn ;  it  was  also 
the  year  of  the  great  revolt  under  Lord  Darcy  and  Lord  Hussey 
in  the  North.  Above  all,  it  was  the  year  in  which  Cromwell's 
policy  of  making  the  king's  will  absolute  and  supreme  rapidly 
approached  consummation.  When  we  proceed  to  consider  the 
life  of  a  public  man  of  that  day,  —  a  man  of  noble  family,  a 
courtier,  —  it  is  in  a  measure  necessary  to  give  at  least  a  glance 
to  the  political  history  of  the  time.  The  principal  events  of 
Henry's  reign  are  tolerably  familiar.  The  decade  just  completed 
had  been  signalized  by  the  long,  persistent  clamoring  for  the 
king's  divorce ;  the  cruel  treatment  of  Queen  Catharine  had 
been  followed  by  the  rise  of  the  Boleyns  and  the  brilliant  exal- 
tation of  Henry's  new  favorite.  The  great  cardinal  had  fallen, 
and  the  iron  power  of  the  new  minister  griped  harder  and  harder 
every  day.  A  certain  stage  in  the  development  of  Cromwell's 
policy  was  noted  by  the  death  of  Bishop  Fisher  and  of  Sir 
Thomas  More,  who  had  just  perished  on  the  scaffold.  These 
were  among  the  more  conspicuous  events  which  had  marked 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  viii.  1158  (16).  Thos.  Wyatt.  Lease 
for  80  years  of  all  messuages,  lands,  woods,  etc.,  in  Heptonstall  and 
Sourbye,  in  the  parish  of  Halliffax,  Yorks.,  which  were  in  the  time  of 
Ric.  duke  of  York,  30  Henry  VI.,  and  long  before,  enclosed  with  hedges 
and  pales  for  keeping  deer,  and  now  commonly  called  Aryngden  Park. 

Riding,  9  July,  27  Hen.  VIII.     Del.  Westm.,  11  July. 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


29 


the  years  of  the  decade  now  closing ;  but  aside  from  these  ex- 
ternal facts,  others,  perhaps  more  momentous,  were  just  tran- 
spiring. The  rise  of  the  new  learning  had  been  inaugurated 
and  advanced  by  men  like  Erasmus,  Colet,  and  More.  The 
new  ideas  which  had  had  their  birth  in  the  work  of  Luther  had 
been  steadily  permeating  the  English  folk.  Forces  partly  con- 
cealed, but  long  fermenting,  were  approaching  their  develop- 
ment. It  was  this  secret  working  in  the  hearts  of  men  that  was 
more  worthy  to  be,  and  more  truly  was,  the  germ  of  the  English 
Reformation  than  were  the  extreme  ideas  of  an  absolutist  like 
Cromwell,  or  the  lust  of  a  selfish,  passionate  king  like  Henry. 

In  Germany,  Henry's  name  was  held  in  detestation  by  the 
Lutherans,  because  of  the  transparent  shallowness  of  his  Protes- 
tantism ;  at  home  he  had  alienated  the  sympathies  of  the  people 
at  large  through  his  cruelty  to  Catharine  and  the  shamelessness 
of  his  relations  with  Anne  Boleyn.  All  classes  were  disaffected. 
During  the  brief  period  of  prosperity  following  Anne's  marriage 
to  the  king  it  was  hardly  safe  for  the  new  queen  to  appear  out- 
side the  palace-gates,  so  bitter  was  the  feeling  of  the  common 
people  towards  her.  On  one  occasion  previous  to  the  marriage, 
she  had  been  attacked  by  a  mob  of  London  women  seven  or 
eight  thousand  strong,  who  would  have  killed  her  if  they  had 
succeeded  in  the  attempt  to  make  her  prisoner.  This  feeling 
was  as  strong  against  the  king  as  against  his  mistress,  and  was 
not  confined  to  the  commons ;  many  of  Henry's  nobles  were 
ripe  for  treason,  and  there  was  a  spirit  of  sullen  opposition  to 
the  will  of  the  king  which  made  rebellion  probable,  and  even 
encouraged  a  plan  of  invasion  from  abroad  which  was  to  end 
in  the  establishment  of  a  foreign  power  upon  the  English  throne. 
Such  a  state  of  affairs  called  for  prompt  and  vigorous  measures, 
and  the  measures  which  Cromwell  chose  to  wield  were  speedily 
at  hand.  The  country  was  filled  with  spies  ;  the  gibbet  gave 
place  only  to  the  block.  The  historian  Green  characterizes  the 
years  of  Cromwell's  administration  as  the  one  period  in  English 
history  which  deserves  the  name  given  to  the  rule  of  Robespierre  : 


$0  •       SIX    THOMAS    IVY  ATT 

"It  was  the  English  Terror."  "So  vigilant"  was  Cromwell,  as 
Cranmer  pleaded  afterwards  to  the  king,  "  so  vigilant  to  preserve 
your  majesty  from  all  treasons."  Treasons  there  were,  but  it  is 
surprising  that  they  were  so  few.  It  is  of  such  a  policy  that  treason 
is  bred ;  but,  as  it  was,  there  were  more  rebellious  thoughts  than 
found  expression  in  open  action.  The  nobles  were  for  the  most 
part  too  firmly  united  in  their  sovereign  to  break  their  allegiance 
to  him.1 

Through  all  the  commotion  and  excitement  of  those  years 
the  Wyatts,  father  and  son,  retained  the  confidence  of  Henry, 
and  stood  firm  in  their  loyal  devotion  to  him.  That  the  work- 
ing of  the  under-current  was  not  without  effect  upon  the  younger 
man,  is  apparent  in  all  the  productions  of  the  years  which  follow ; 
and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  we  have  dealt  thus  at  length  with  a 
subject  which  is  of  great  importance  for  understanding  the  devel- 
opment of  the  poet's  character  and  work.  The  year  1536  was 
the  turning-point  in  Wyatt's  life.  He  was  but  thirty-three  years 
of  age  ;  but  from  now  on,  his  writings  become  more  and  more 
deeply  tinged  with  the  sober  shades  born  of  experience  and 
reflection.  It  was  impossible  for  a  mind  like  his,  —  a  mind  so 
responsive  to  the  charms  of  the  new  learning,  —  to  pass  through 
the  troubled  times  of  which  we  speak  without  profoundly  realiz- 
ing the  uncertainty  of  fortune  and  the  vanity  of  human  success. 
He  was  not  deaf  to  the  utterances  of  the  still  voices  of  the 
time ;  but  their  commands  for  him  did  not  conflict  with  his 
duty  to  the  king.  No  thought  of  disloyalty  could  occur  to 
him.     It  was  — 

"  My  King,  my  country,  alone  for  whom  I  live,"  2 

that  he  sang  when  leaving  Spain  for  his  native  land,  in  1539. 
He  was  the  zealous  servant  of  the  king,  and  even  retained  the 
friendship  of  Cromwell  to  the  end. 

1  In  connection  with  this  section  see  Green's  Short  History  of  the 
English  People,  ch.  vi.  sect.  vi. 

2  Nott's  ed.,  p.  71. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  3] 

This  change  in  the  tone  of  Wyatt's  poems,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made  above,  was  a  perfectly  natural  one  ;  if  it  came 
earlier  in  his  life,  or  was  more  marked  at  that  age,  than  is  usual, 
the  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  impressive  Lessons  of  the  day 
and  place  in  which  he  lived.  The  change  was  not  due,  as  some 
of  his  biographers  have  argued,  to  the  sombre  thoughts  and 
troubled  conscience  aroused  by  the  pitiful  end  of  Anne  Boleyn. 
Regarding  the  relationship  which  had  existed  between  the  young 
courtier-poet  and  Catharine's  fair  maid  of  honor,  much  has 
been  said  and  very  little  really  known.  Certain  allusions  in  the 
love-poems  make  it  pretty  evident  that  on  the  poet's  side,  at 
least,  some  real  affection  for  the  lady  had  existed  ;  as  to  the 
nature  and  reliability  of  these  allusions,  we  shall  be  better  able 
to  form  a  judgment  in  that  part  of  our  essay  devoted  to  the 
interpretation  of  the  poems,  which  is  to  follow. 

Wyatt's  name  has  been  connected  with  the  record  of  Anne 
Boleyn's  trial  and  condemnation.  It  is  well  known  that  he  was 
a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  during  the  period  of  Anne's  confine- 
ment ;  he  himself  alludes  to  this  imprisonment  in  his  oration 
before  the  judges  at  his  trial  in  1541.  The  precise  nature  of 
his  offence  is  unknown  ;  Wyatt,  in  the  reference  just  noted,  says 
that  it  was  a  matter  between  himself  and  the  Duke  of  Suffolk.1 
Whatever  the  charge,  it  is  evident  that  the  matter  caused  little 
anxiety  to  Wyatt's  father,  and  that  the  poet's  innocence  was 
soon  satisfactorily  established.  There  is  a  letter  of  Henry's,  di- 
rected to  Archdeacon  Pate,  then  ambassador  to  the  emperor, 
bearing  date  of  April  25,  1536,  and  subscribed  with  the  words 
"  end  J  by  Wyat" a  If  Wyatt,  therefore,  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
the  king  sufficiently  to  be  employed  by  him  at  that  date  to  perform 
the  duties  of  a  secretary,  it  is  evident  that  the  cause  of  his  im- 
prisonment must  have  rested  upon  some  evidence  unexpectedly 
discovered,  or  on  some  outbreak  of  sudden  passion  at  a  later 
provocation. 

1  Wyatt's  Defence  :  Nott,  p.  299;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  Ixxxvi. 

2  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  x.  726. 


32  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

Upon  the  7th  of  May  Sir  Henry  sent  a  letter  to  his  son,  in 
which  reference  is  made  to  the  treason  with  which  George 
Boleyn,  Norris,  Weston,  and  the  others  were  accused,  and 
urges  his  son  to  give  the  king  due  attendance  night  and  day.1 
He  does  not  write  as  though  Wyatt  were  as  yet  under  arrest, 
—  at  least  he  was  not  then  aware  of  it,  —  nor  as  if  suspicion  in 
any  way  inculpated  his  son  in  the  charge  upon  which  the  others 
were  arraigned.  On  the  nth  of  May  Sir  Henry  Wyatt  writes 
to  Cromwell,  having  heard  the  day  before  by  a  letter  from  the 
minister  the  news  of  his  son's  arrest.  In  this  letter  of  Wyatt's 
father's  there  is  nothing  to  suggest  the  existence  of  a  serious 
charge  ;  Sir  Henry  speaks  of  his  son's  deliverance  as  a  thing  of 
the  near  future,  and  asks  Cromwell  to  admonish  him  to  fly  vice 
and  to  serve  God  better.2  Under  date  of  June  14  there  is  a 
second  letter  from  Sir  Henry  to  the  minister,  in  which  refer- 
ence is  made  to  Wyatt's  release,  which  appears  to  have  just  oc- 
curred. Here  also  his  father  writes  as  if  Wyatt's  offence  were 
of  the  nature  of  a  quarrel,  rather  than  aught  against  the  king's 
security.3 

In  addition  to  these  private  notes  there  is  a  document  of 
greater  historical  interest,  in  which  some  reference  to  the  poet's 
present  experience  occurs.  This  is  a  paper  drawn  up  for  Crom- 
well's benefit,  in  which  Sir  William  Kyngston,  Keeper  of  the 
Tower,  describes  the  speech  and  behavior  of  Anne  Boleyn 
while  a  prisoner  under  his  charge.  This  MS.  is  badly  mutilated, 
and  it  is  unfortunately  impossible  to  say  with  any  certainty  in 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  x.  819.  Sir  Hen.  Wiat  to  his  son  Thos. 
Wiat.  Considers  himself  most  unfortunate  that  he  can  not  go  nor  ride 
without  danger  to  his  life,  or  do  his  duty  to  the  King  in  this  danger- 
ous time  that  his  Grace  has  suffered  by  false  traitors.  Desires  his  son 
to  give  the  King  due  attendance  night  and  day.  "  I  pray  to  God  give 
him  grace  long  to  be  with  him  and  about  him  that  hath  found  out  this 
matter  [Cromwell  ?],  which  hath  been  given  him  of  God,  and  the  false 
traitors  to  be  punished  according  to  justice  to  the  example  of  others." 
Allington,  May  7,  1536. 

2  Ibid.,  840  (printed  in  Aid.  ed.,  p.  xx). 

3  Ibid.,  x.  1131  (printed  in  Aid.  ed  ,  p.  xxi). 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  33 

what  connection  the  references  to  Wyatt  occur.1  Kyngston 
evidently  informs  the  queen  of  the  cause  of  Wyatt's  imprison- 
ment ;  and  the  mutilation  makes  a  provoking  break  in  the  nar- 
rative. One  is  indeed  tempted  to  complete  the  defective  lines, 
—  perhaps  to  the  effect  that  Wyatt  struck  "one  [with]  his  fist  the 
other  day  and  is  here  now  but  ma[ny  think  he  will  soon  be 
pardoned]."  Anne  jokes  further  on  because  the  male  prisoners 
have  no  one  to  make  their  beds,  suggesting  that  they  might 
make  ballads  at  least ;  and  both  Anne  and  Mistress  Kyngston 
agree  that  Master  Wyatt  is  the  one  to  do  this.  There  is,  so 
far  as  we  can  see,  no  hint  that  the  charges  upon  which  Anne 
and  the  poet  were  respectively  arraigned  were  in  any  way 
connected. 

If  we  possessed  no  other  data  than  the  letters  and  the  paper 
just  referred  to,  we  might  dismiss  the  question  of  Wyatt's  offence 
as  settled  ;  but  the  suspicions  aroused  by  his  imprisonment  at 
just  this  time,  and  his  earlier  intimate  relations  with  Anne  Loleyn, 
are  strengthened  by  the  discovery  of  certain  letters  written  by  a 
courtier  of  the  time.  Again  we  have  recourse  to  the  correspon- 
dence of  Lord  Lisle,  still  deputy  of  Calais.  The  writer  of  the 
letters  is  one  John  Hussey,  a  gentleman  of  Henry's  court ;  he 
probably  reflects  the  impression  of  his  associates.  The  first  of 
these  letters,  under  date  of  London,  May  12,  1536,  contains  the 
following  :  — 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  x.  79S.      Sir  Wm.  Kyngston  to  Cromwell, 
r  badly  mutilated,  concerning  the  speech  and  behaviour  of  Anne, 
then  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower.)     [Extracts  therefrom.] 

.  sent  for  me  and  sayd,  I  here  say  my  Lord  my  •  •  .  here;  it  ys 
trowth,  sayd  I.  I  am  very  glad,  sayd  s[he]  .  .  .  bothe  be  so  i\y  to  gether, 
hyr  here  was  .  .  .  Weston  and  Prerton,  and  she  made  very 
gud  countenans  ...  I  also  sayd  Mr.  Page  and  Wyet  wase  mo  than  she 
sayd  he  ha  .  .  .  one  hys  fyst  tother  day  and  ys  here  now  bot  ma  .  .  . 
I  shalle  desyre  you  to  bayre  a  letter  from  me  .  .  .  [to  master]  Secretary 
.  .  .  [-h]e  hathe  asked  my  wyfe  whether  hony  body  makes  theyr  beddes, 
[and  m]y  wyf  ansured  and  sayd,  Nay,  I  warant  you;  then  she  sayplj 
[thejy  myght  make  balettes  well  now,  bot  there  ys  non  bot  .  .  .  de  that 
can  do  it.  Yese  sayd  my  wyf.  Master  Wyett  by  .  .  .  sayd  trew."  [Writ- 
ten in  May,  1536.] 

3 


34 


SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 


"...  Today  Mr.  Norreys,  Weston,  Bryerton,  and  Markes 
have  been  arraigned,  and  are  judged  to  be  drawn,  hanged,  and 
quartered.  They  shall  die  tomorrow  or  Monday.  Anne  the 
queen,  and  her  brother,  shall  be  arraigned  in  the  Tower,  some 
think  tomorrow,  but  on  Monday  at  the  furthest,  and  that  they 
will  suffer  there  immediately  'for  divers  considerations,  which  are 
not  yet  known.'  Mr.  Payge  and  Mr.  W[y]at  are  in  the  Tower, 
but  it  is  thought  without  danger  of  life,  though  Mr.  Payge  is  ban- 
ished the  King's  court  for  ever."1 

Upon  the  1 3th  May,  Hussey  again  writes  :  — 

"Here  are  so  many  tales  I  cannot  tell  what  to  write.  This  day, 
some  say,  young  Weston  shall  escape,  and  some  that  none  shall 
die  but  the  Queen  and  her  brother;  others,  that  Wyat  and  Mr. 
Payge  are  as  like  to  suffer  as  the  others.  The  saying  now  is  that 
those  who  shall  suffer  shall  die  when  the  Queen  and  her  brother 
go  to  execution ;  but  I  think  they  shall  all  suffer.  If  any  escape 
it  will  be  young  Weston,  for  whom  importunate  suit  is  made."  2 

Writing  again  to  Lord  Lisle,  on  the  19th  May,  Hussey  says  : 

"  Lord  Rocheford,  Mr.  Norreys,  Bruriton,  Weston,  and  Markes 
suffered  with  the  axe  on  the  scaffold  at  Tower  Hill  on  Wednes- 
day the  17th,  and  died  very  charitably.  The  Queen  suffered  with; 
sword  this  day  within  the  Tower,  upon  a  new  scaffold,  and  died 
boldly.  .  .  .  Mr.  Payge  and  Mr.  Wyat  remain  in  the  Tower."  3 

Upon  the  same  day  he  writes  to  Lady  Lisle  :  — 

"  Mr.  Paige  and  young  Wyat  are  in  the  Tower.  What  shall 
become  of  them  God  best  knoweth."  4 

From  this  correspondence  it  will  be  seen  that  Wyatt's  con- 
nection with  the  other  offenders  was  generally  taken  for  granted 
by  the  circle  which  Hussey  represents.  This  supposition  is  stif 
more  clearly  expressed  in  a  note  from  Chapuis,  the  Austriai: 
ambassador,  to  the  English  ambassador,  resident  at  Vienna  ( 
wherein  he  says  :  — 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  x.  855.  3  Ibid.,  919. 

2  Ibid.,  865.  4  ibid.,  920. 


AND  JUS  POEMS. 


35 


"There  are  still  two  gentlemen  [Wyatt  and  Page]  detained  on 
her  [Anne's]  account.'*  1 

This  letter  also  bears  date  of  19th  May. 

That  botli  these  gentlemen  were  in  error  in  regard  to  the 
nature  of  the  charge  upon  which  Wyatt  was  imprisoned,  is  not 
beyond  the  limits  of  possibility.  It  was  a  time  of  excitement 
and  suspicion.  There  must  have  been  a  thousand  rumors  in  the 
air.  Hussey  says  :  "Here  are  so  many  talcs  I  cannot  tell  what 
to  write  ;  "  and  the  fact  of  Wyatt's  sudden  arrest,  occurring 
simultaneously  with  that  of  the  alleged  conspirators,  would  natu- 
rally give  rise  to  such  conjectures,  whether  true  or  false.  What- 
ever the  charge  or  the  offence,  the  matter  was  soon  settled,  and 
by  the  14th  June,  as  we  have  already  seen,  Wyatt  had  his 
liberty. 

Here  our  original  investigations  must  for  the  present  end,  as 
the  publication  of  the  "  Calendars,"  naturally  a  work  of  time, 
reaches  (July,  1888)  only  as  far  as  vol.  x. 

From  Wyatt's  statement  in  the  oration  already  cited,  we  learn 
that  he  was  appointed  to  a  command  in  the  army  under  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  ordered  into  Lancashire  to  oppose  the 
rising  under  Lord  Darcy.  This  appointment  he  received  soon 
after  his  acquittal  of  the  charges  on  which  he  had  been  im- 
prisoned, and  seems  designedly  to  attest  the  continuance  of 
Henry's  favor  and  his  unbroken  confidence  and  esteem.  In  the 
following  year  Wyatt  was  appointed  high  sheriff  of  Kent  "  for  a 
special  confidence  in  such  a  busy  time."  2 

There  is  considerable  uncertainty  as  to  when  Wyatt  received 
the  honor  of  knighthood.  Nott  says  in  1536,  and  quotes  the 
Cotton  MS.  and  an  entry  in  Heralds'  College,  in  the  following 
note  :  — 

':  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  was  dubbed  Knight  on  Easter-day,  iSth  of 
March,  1536.     Cotton  MS.  Claudius,  C.  Hi.     In  the  Heralds'  Col- 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  x.  9x59  (taken  from  the  Vienna  Archives''. 
8  Wyatt's  Defence  :  Nott,  p.  300;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  lxxxvii. 


36  SSX    THOMAS    WYATT 

lege  is  this  notice :  Partition  of  the  Knights'  money.  Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt  and  Sir  William  Weste  xxxv  s.  to  the  King  at  Arms  v  s. 
and  to  the  Heralds  us.  6d.  Anno  H.  VHI.xxvii.  at  Westminster. 
Item,  To  Mr.  Garter,  for  registring  of  the  said  Knights,  Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt  and  Sir  William  Weste,  iiii  s."  J 

But  the  editor  of  the  Aldine  edition  quotes  the  entry  in  the 
Cotton  MS.  thus  :  — 

"  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  dubbed  on  Easterday  anno  28,  the  18  [28] 
day  of  March,  1536."  2 

Now  "  anno  28  "  would  indicate  the  year  1537,  not  1536,  as 
Henry  began  to  reign  April  22,  1509,  and  March  of  1536  would 
fall  in  cifino  27  of  Henry's  reign. 

Moreover  Easter  fell  on  the  16th  April  in  1536,  and  not  in 
March,  as  the  record  seems  to  assert.  It  is  strange,  too,  if  1536 
be  the  correct  date  of  this  event,  that  Wyatt  receives  no  title 
other  than  "  master  "  or  "  esquire  "  in  any  of  the  papers  of  that 
year.  The  earliest  writing  found  as  yet  in  which  the  title  of 
"knight"  is  employed  happens  to  be  a  letter  of  Cromwell's 
dated  6th  of  June,  —  not  the  29th  of  June,  as  the  editor  of  the 
Aldine  edition  states,  —  1537.3  It  is  more  than  probable  that 
Wyatt  received  the  honor  shortly  before  starting  on  his  mission 
to  Spain,  in  the  early  part  of  1537.  He  is  still  designated  as 
"  esquire,"  even  in  the  paper  of  instructions  given  by  the  king 
immediately  before  his  departure.4 

Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  served  his  king  as  resident  ambassador  at 
the  Court  of  Charles  V.  in  Spain  from  June  in  1537  until  June 
or  July  of  1539.  During  this  period  of  two  years  it  is  possible 
that  he  made  one  or  more  journeys  to  England  in  order  to  lay 
certain  matters  of  superior  importance  more  clearly  before  his 
master.  The  object  of  his  mission  was  to  pacify  the  emperor, 
who  was  more  or  less  exasperated  by  the  treatment  to  which  his 
aunt,  Queen  Catharine,  had  been  subjected,  and  also  to  lessen, 

1  Nott,  p.  xxviii,  foot-note.  3  Nott,  p  324. 

2  Aid.  ed.,  p.  xxiii.  4  Ibid.,  p.  312. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  37 

if  he  might,  the  likelihood  of  Charles's  espousing  the  cause  of 
Mary,  and  advancing  her  claim  to  the  throne  of  England. 

The  leading  events  in  Wyatt's  life  while  on  this  embassy  are 
so  well  known  as  to  call  for  little  remark  here.  For  Wyatt  per- 
sonally, the  coming  of  the  two  special  envoys,  Haynes  and  Bon- 
ner, in  May  of  1538,  was  destined  to  affect  in  an  unexpected 
and  troublesome  manner  the  circumstances  of  his  later  life. 
Not  only  did  their  conduct  there  embarrass  him  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  mission,  but,  instigated  by  spite  or  envy,  certain 
charges  were  perpetrated  by  P>onner  against  the  poet,  criticising 
severely  Wyatt's  conduct,  and  reflecting  upon  his  honor  and  his 
loyalty.  The  negotiations  with  the  emperor,  while  unsuccessful 
in  the  main,  were  nevertheless  so  conducted  by  Wyatt  as  to  win 
Henry's  approbation  and  substantial  expression  of  his  approval. 
From  the  correspondence  still  preserved  we  gather  that  Crom- 
well was  at  this  time  the  best  friend  that  Wyatt  had.  He  looked 
with  considerable  care  after  the  property  of  the  absent  ambas- 
sador, who  seems  to  have  left  his  private  affairs  in  some  con- 
fusion, and  at  the  same  time  he  assisted  Wyatt  very  materially 
by  his  recommendations  to  the  king.  In  February  of  1539 
Cromwell  writes  to  him  that  he  has  procured  for  the  poet  grant 
of  the  Friary  of  Alresford,1  —  this  occurring  on  the  dissolution  of 
the  monasteries.  One  of  Cromwell's  letters,  written  in  January 
of  the  same  year,  1539,  permits  a  new  glimpse  of  Wyatt's  char- 
acter too  important  to  be  overlooked.  Promising  to  remit 
money  as  he  may  need,  the  minister  accompanies  his  promise 
with  a  mild  rebuke,  advising  him  "  nevertheless,  that  I  think 
your  gentle  frank  heart  doth  much  impoverish  you.  When  you 
have  money  you  are  content  to  depart  with  it  and  lend  it,  as  you 
did  lately  two  hundred  ducats  to  Mr.  Plobby,  the  which  I  think 
had  no  need  of  them  ;  for  he  had  large  furnishment  of  money 
at  his  departure  hence,  and  likewise  at  his  return."  a 

A  certain  remark  of  Wyatt's  own,  with  a  bearing  on  his  ex- 
perience in  Spain,  is  also  of  sufficient  importance  to  demand  a 

1  Nott,  p.  345.  2  Ibid.,  p.  344  ;  Aid.  cd.,  p.  xxix. 


33 


SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 


place.  At  a  later  time,  defending  himself  against  the  imputation 
cast  by  Bonner  upon  the  sincerity  of  his  religious  professions, 
Wyatt  says  :  — ■ 

"What  men  judge  of  me  abroad,  this  may  be  a  great  token,  that 
the  King's  Majesty  and  his  Council  know  what  hazard  I  was  in  in 
Spain  with  the  Inquisition,  only  by  speaking  against  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  where  peradventure  Bonner  would  not  have  bid  such  a 
brunt.  The  Emperor  had  much  ado  to  save  me,  and  yet  that  made 
me  not  to  hold  my  peace,  when  I  might  defend  the  King's  deed 
against  him,  and  improve  his  naughtiness."  1 

It  must  be  noted,  too,  that  during  the  latter  part  of  his  stay 
abroad  Wyatt  was  full  of  longing  to  return  to  England.  He 
realized  the  futility  of  his  efforts  with  the  emperor,  was  per- 
plexed by  complications  in  his  private  affairs,  and  was  fully  con- 
scious of  the  ill-will  of  Bonner,  and  of  the  existence  of  the  latter's 
charges,  which  might  prove  of  great  annoyance  and  peril  to  him. 
In  addition  to  these  embarrassments,  Wyatt  was  called  upon  to 
mourn  the  loss  of  his  father ;  and  the  impression  made  upon  the 
poet  by  his  death  we  have  already  seen  reflected  in  the  letter  to 
his  son. 

Upon  Wyatt's  return  to  England  in  July  of  1539  he  at  once 
demanded  an  investigation  of  the  charges  preferred  against  him. 
Cromwell,  however,  assured  him  that  such  an  investigation  had 
been  already  made,  and  the  whole  matter  dismissed  as  trivial 
and  without  foundation.  Sir  Thomas  was  now  permitted  to 
return  to  his  home  at  Arlington,  where  he  busied  himself  with 
family  concerns  and  the  improvement  of  his  estate.  But  he  was 
not  permitted  long  to  enjoy  the  seclusion  of  domestic  life. 
Towards  the  end  of  1539  Charles  V.  made  a  journey  to  the 
Netherlands,  passing  through  France  upon  his  way.  To  Henry 
it  was  a  matter  of  prime  importance  to  be  informed  of  all  that 
might  occur  upon  this  progress,  for  he  was  suspicious  of  the 
emperor's  designs,  and  more  or  less  in  fear  of  his  future  move- 
ments.    It  became  necessary,  therefore,  to  appoint  some  person 

1  Wyatt's  Defence  :  Nott,  p.  294 ;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  lxxx. 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


39 


of  unusual  foresight  and  experience,  who.  in  the  character  of 
special  envoy,  should  carefully  watch  the  progress  of  events 
and  report  to  Henry  even'  fact  of  interest  that  might  happen. 
For  a  mission  of  this  character  no  one  among  Henry's  courtiers 
was  better  qualified  than  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  Admirably  equipped 
with  the  insight  into  Charles's  character  gained  by  him  when  res- 
ident at  the  Spanish  Court,  and  with  the  additional  advantage  of 
possessing  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  the  emperor,  Wyatt  was 
appointed  to  this  new  post  of  honor  and  of  difficulty,  and  entered 
immediately  upon  the  fulfilment  of  its  duties. 

He  arrived  at  Paris  in  November.  Thence  he  proceeded  to 
Blois.  where  he  obtained  an  interview  with  Francis,  and  then 
hastened  to  join  the  emperor,  December  ioth,  at  Chaterault. 
In  January  the  Imperial  Court  was  at  Paris  ;  thence  it  removed 
to  Brussels.  In  March  and  April  Wyatt  was  with  the  emperor 
at  Client.  In  May,  after  having  repeatedly  solicited  his  own 
recall,  he  was  allowed  to  return  to  England.  Again  Sir  Thomas 
was  received  with  tokens  of  royal  approbation,  and  we  have  no 
cause  for  doubting  that  the  king  was  satisfied  with  the  way  in 
which  the  mission  had  been  performed.  Wyatt's  correspon- 
dence while  absent  on  this  embassy  has  been  preserved,1  and 
his  official  letters  to  Cromwell  and  to  Henry  afford  unusually 
interesting  reading.  He  describes  minutely  his  interviews  with 
king  and  emperor,  remarks  with  sagacity  upon  the  political 
situation,  and  tells  his  story  withal  in  a  way  which  adds  the 
charm  of  personality  to  the  value  which  the  papers  would  other- 
wise possess  historically.  A  study  of  this  correspondence  leaves 
no  doubt  as  to  Wyatt's  eminent  qualifications  for  this  mission, 
and  e>tal>lishes  his  unusual  ability  in  diplomatic  service. 

It  was  in  May  of  the  year  1540  that  Wyatt  arrived  once  more 
in  England.  In  about  a  month  came  the  downfall  of  the  pow- 
erful minister,  Wyatt's  good  friend,  Cromwell.  It  was  not  un- 
expected. It  is  a  singular  fact  that  Cromwell  had  himself 
warned  his  friends  of  the  ruin  which  he,  as  clearly  as  any  one, 

1  Printed  by  Nott  in  his  appendix. 


4q  SIX    THOMAS    WYATT 

saw  approaching ;  and  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  this  foreboding 
of  a  coming  danger  was  one  reason  for  Wyatt's  persistency  in 
pressing  for  his  recall  from  France.  There  was  indeed  ground 
for  disquietude,  for  the  party  which  had  overthrown  the  minister 
would  naturally  direct  their  hostility  further,  and  perhaps  attack 
the  fallen  statesman's  friends,  among  whom  Wyatt  was  con- 
spicuous. We  have  already  had  occasion  to  note  the  friendly 
services  which  Cromwell  had  often  tendered  him.  His  letters 
to  the  absent  ambassador  are  always  full  of  kindly  feeling,  which 
finds  expression  in  spite  of  the  official  nature  of  the  papers. 
It  is  to  "  my  very  loving  friend  "  that  these  documents  are 
addressed,  and  in  like  fashion  subscribed.  In  fact  Cromwell 
had  ever  been  "good  lord"  to  Wyatt,  as  the  expression  ran, 
and  it  was  not  improbable  that  the  ruin  of  his  powerful  patron 
might  involve  his  own. 

Whether  Wyatt  anticipated  it  or  not,  he  was  now  exposed  to 
real  and  serious  danger.  His  old  enemy  Bonner  had  been 
made  bishop  of  London,  and  was  therefore  in  a  position  to 
renew  the  old  animosity  and  to  prosecute  his  revengeful  plans. 
This  he  did ;  and  the  former  allegations  against  Wyatt's  loyalty 
were  once  more  trumped  forth.  In  spite  of  the  complete 
acquittal  in  which  the  previous  investigation  had  resulted, 
Henry,  ever  suspicious  of  the  faithfulness  of  any  subject,  lent 
his  ear  to  the  bishop's  representations  and  had  the  knight 
arrested  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Such  undeserved  treat- 
ment and  apparent  ingratitude  on  his  sovereign's  part  were  not 
without  effect  on  Wyatt's  spirit.  As  he  wrote  in  the  verses 
addressed  to  Sir  Francis  Bryan,1  and  as  he  declared  in  his 
speech  before  the  judges,2  though  the  wound  might  in  time  be 
healed,  a  cruel  scar  would  always  remain  to  show  the  depth  of 
his  hurt. 

Wyatt  was  thrown  into  the  Tower  about  the  beginning  of 
1 541,  but  it  was  several  months  before  he  was  brought  to  trial. 

1  Nott,  p.  72;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  174. 

2  Nott,  p.  292 ;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  lxxvii. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  4I 

The  charges  lodged  by  Bonner  two  or  three  years  before  had 
been  originally  presented  in  a  letter  to  Cromwell  written  while 
Bonner  was  at  Blois,  and  bearing  date  of  2d  September,  153N.1 
Herein  were  set  forth  ten  articles,  comprising  various  trivial 
attacks  upon  the  ambassador's  character  both  in  private  life  and 
in  the  discharge  of  public-  duty  ;  certain  remarks  were  quoted, 
construed  to  imply  disloyalty  to  the  king;  moreover  com- 
plaints were  made  of  the  mistreatment  which  Bonner  fancied 
he  himself  had  experienced  at  Wyatt's  hands.  In  addition  to 
this  collection  of  insinuations,  VVyatt  was  alleged  to  have  carried 
on  a  treasonable  correspondence  with  Reginald  Pole,  an  English- 
man of  the  highest  family,  a  grandson  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
who,  because  of  his  hostility  to  the  project  of  Henry's  divorce, 
had  been  obliged  to  flee  from  England  and  take  refuge  in  Rome, 
where  he  had  been  made  cardinal  by  the  pope. 

In  accordance  with  the  custom  of  that  day,  the  accused  was 
requested  by  the  Privy  Council  to  draw  up  in  writing  a  de- 
fence, setting  forth  and  explaining,  for  the  establishment  of  his 
own  innocence,  all  the  incidents  occurring  while  on  his  embassy 
in  Spain  which  might  be  construed  as  evidence  of  treason.  He 
remained  in  ignorance  of  the  specific  charges  lodged  against 
him  ;  he  must  answer  blindfolded,  in  a  sense,  yet  so  clearly  and 
so  conclusively,  and  with  such  exactness,  as  to  remove  all  doubt 
of  innocence.  This  dubious  command  Wyatt  obeyed  at  once, 
skilfully,  and  apparently  with  success. 2  The  formal  trial  fol- 
lowed, and  Wyatt  was  brought  before  his  judges.  He  was 
allowed  neither  counsel  nor  witnesses,  nor  permitted  to  cross- 
examine  his  accusers.  In  a  single  speech  he  was  obliged  to 
refute  all  allegations  and  to  remove  from  the  minds  of  the 
council  the  misconception  and  prejudice  which  Bonner  might 
have  succeeded  in  arousing.  Wyatt  was  in  a  difficult  case  ;  but 
he  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  Never  did  a  man  under  accu- 
sation of  high  crimes  plead  his  cause  with  greater  vigor  or  more 
successfully.     Not  content  with  a  complete  refutation  of  Bonner's 

1  Aid.  ed..  p.  xxxv.  -  Nott,  p.  277  ;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  lxi. 


42  SIX   THOMAS   IVY  ATT 

scandalous  charges,  he  proceeded  further  to  unmask  his  ac- 
cuser's character,  and  attacked  him  in  turn  with  such  keenness 
and  such  humor  that  he  not  only  procured  a  triumphant  ac- 
quittal by  his  masterly  defence,  but  heaped  confusion  on  his 
adversary,  and  at  the  same  time  won  new  fame  as  a  man  of 
letters.1 

The  trial  took  place  probably  in  June ;  in  the  course  of  the 
following  month  the  king  bestowed  upon  the  poet  a  grant  of 
lands  in  Lambeth,  and  in  the  early  part  of  1542  made  him  high 
steward  of  the  manor  of  Maidstone,  also  granting  him  estates 
in  Dorsetshire  and  Somersetshire  in  exchange  for  others  of  less 
value  in  Kent.2 

Wyatt  was  now  once  more  living  in  retirement  at  his  pleasant 
home  of  Allington ;  and  here  he  evidently  hoped  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  his  days  in  the  enjoyment  of  those  quiet  delights 
which  he  pictures  in  the  Satires.  He  had  had  enough  of  the 
life  at  Court,  and  could  rightly  estimate  the  doubtful  happiness 
and  vain  security  of  those  who  — 

"  Stand  .  .  .  upon  the  slipper  top 
Of  high  estate." 

Of  his  occupation  during  this  period  of  his  life  he  writes 
thus  to  his  friend  John  Poins  :  — 

"  This  maketh  me  at  home  to  hunt  and  hawk  ; 
And  in  foul  weather  at  my  book  to  sit ; 
In  frost  and  snow,  then  with  my  bow  to  stalk  : 
No  man  doth  mark  whereso  I  ride  or  go  : 
In  lusty  leas  at  liberty  I  walk; 
And  of  these  news  I  feel  nor  weal,  nor  woe.1'  3 

Part  of  the  poet's  leisure  was  devoted  to  the  education  of  his 
sister's  son,  Henry  Lee.  This  was  also  the  period  of  the  para- 
phrase of  the  Penitential  Psalms,  which  seems  to  Dr.  Nott's  mind 

1  Nott,  p.  284 ;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  lxix. 

2  Hutchins's  Dorsetshire,  i.  189 ;  Aid.  ed  ,  p.  xliv. 

3  Nott's  ed.,  p.  90;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  193. 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  ^ 

"  written  not  as  an  exercise  of  his  skill  as  a  poet,  but  to  express 
a  Christian's  sorrow  for  the  levities  and  errors  of  his  youth,"  ' 
—  a  surmise  far-fete  lied,  to  say  the  least.  That  Wyatt's  mind 
should  be  sobered  and  deeply  impressed  by  the  circumstances 
of  the  years  in  which  he  lived,  was  to  be  expected  ;  and  that, 
with  these  impressions  quickened  by  the  recent  peril  from  which 
he  had  but  just  emerged,  he  should  derive  comfort  and  satis- 
faction from  a  work  like  this,  need  not  seem  surprising,  lint 
it  was  no  act  of  penitence,  or  of  penance,  any  more  than  in  the 
case  of  Surrey,  who  paraphrased  Ecclesiastes  and  several  of  the 
Psalms  of  David;  or  of  those  French  poets — almost,  if  not 
quite,  contemporaries  —  who  turned  their  talents  in  the  same 
direction. 

In  the  autumn  of  1542  ambassadors  from  Charles  V.  arrived 
in  England,  and  Wyatt  was  at  once  commissioned  by  the  king 
to  meet  the  envoys  at  Falmouth  for  the  purpose  of  conducting 
them  to  London.  The  performance  of  this  honorable  service 
cost  the  poet  his  life.  The  weather  was  bad,  and  Wyatt,  in  his 
zeal,  had  overheated  himself  by  rapid  riding.  He  fell  sick  of 
a  fever  while  resting  at  Sherborne ;  the  fever  took  a  malignant 
turn,  and  after  a  few  days'  illness  Wyatt  died.  A  friend  of  the 
poet's,  by  the  name  of  Horsey,  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Sherborne,  had  hastened  to  his  bedside  at  the  first  news  of 
Wyatt's  sickness,  and  it  was  by  the  hands  of  this  friend  that  the 
last  offices  for  the  dead  knight  were  performed.  On  the  nth 
October,  1542,  Wyatt's  remains  were  laid  in  the  vault  of  the 
Horsey  family,  in  the  great  church  at  Sherborne ;  but  no  in- 
scription remains  to  tell  us  precisely  where  the  poet  lies. 

Numerous  epitaphs  from  the  pens  of  contemporary  writers 
give  proof  of  the  general  esteem  and  appreciation  with  which 
Wyatt's  character  and  services  were  regarded.  Most  notable 
of  these,  perhaps,  were  a  short  poetic  tribute  from  the  poet 
Surrey,  and  a  Latin  elegy  from  the  hand  of  Sir  John  Mason, — 
the  latter  a  friend  of  the  poet,  and  himself  a  noted  scholar  and 


1  Nutt,  p.  lxviii. 


calii- 


44  SIX   THOMAS   IVY  ATT 

writer.  Without  attempting  even  a  brief  summary  of  these  ex- 
pressions of  commendation  and  regret,  it  may  suffice  to  say 
that  all  unite  especially  in  praise  of  Wyatt's  frank  and  generous 
spirit,  and  of  the  strong  integrity  of  his  manly  character. 

In  his  person  Wyatt  was  tall  and  handsome,  with  a  com- 
manding presence.  From  his  boyhood  he  was  noted  for  cour- 
age and  coolness,  —  two  qualities  which  not  only  characterized 
his  after  career  abroad,  but  stood  him  in  good  stead  when  a 
defendant  at  the  bar  of  the  Privy  Council.  He  was  a  success- 
ful courtier  at  a  time  when  to  retain  the  royal  favor  was  a  more 
delicate  business  than  the  capture  of  it  •  but  Wyatt's  continu- 
ance in  the  king's  good  grace  was  due  rather  to  the  transparent 
honesty  and  marked  ability  of  the  man  than  to  a  succession 
of  lucky  hits  or  to  a  course  of  systematic  cunning.  Wyatt  was 
sagacious  and  far-seeing  in  matters  of  public  policy.  He  had 
a  keen  wit,  and  many  are  the  anecdotes  remaining. of  what 
"Wyatt  told  to  the  king."  Of  special  interest  is  it  to  note  that 
Sir  Thomas  was  a  man  of  letters ;  and  if  little  has  thus  far  been 
said  touching  this  side  of  his  career,  it  is  because  it  seemed  better 
to  treat  of  that  apart,  in  a  portion  of  our  essay  entirely  devoted 
to  a  consideration  of  the  poet's  work.  Wyatt  was  remarkable  for 
linguistic  attainment  among  the  scholars  of  that  day ;  not  only 
familiar  with  the  languages  and  literatures  of  France,  Italy,  and 
Spain,  he  was  thoroughly  at  home  among  the  classic  writers,  and 
was  spoken  of  as  splcndide  doctus  by  an  eminent  scholar  of  his 
time.  That  in  Wyatt's  character  worthy  of  most  emphatic  re- 
cognition, however,  is  the  high  ideal  of  life  presented  in  all  his 
later  works,  and,  so  far  as  we  may  judge,  exemplified  in  his  own 
career.  No  indecency  mars  his  poetry ;  no  word  of  his  sug- 
gests the  tolerance  or  the  condoning  of  a  vicious  thing.  He 
honored  virtue  ;  he  loved  sincerity.  "  If  you  will  seem  honest, 
be  honest;  or  else  seem  as  you  are,"  is  the  counsel  he  gave  his 
son ;  and  what  he  urged  upon  the  boy,  that  quality  his  contem- 
poraries unite  in  attributing  to  him. 

Wyatt's  wife,  Elizabeth,  survived  him,  and  afterwards  married 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  45 

Sir  Edward  Warner.  Sir  Thomas  left  a  son,  known  as  Sir 
Thomas  Wyatt  the  younger.  At  fifteen  years  of  age  he  married 
the  daughter  of  Sir  William  Hawte  ;  and  it  was  at  this  period 
that  the  two  remarkable  letters  already  quoted  were  addressed 
him  by  his  father.  He  became  a  friend  and  intimate  of  the 
poet  Surrey,  and  followed  with  distinction  under  his  command  in 
the  war  with  France.  He  evidently  inherited  the  same  bold  spirit 
and  carelessness  of  danger  which  had  marked  his  father's  earlier 
years.  After  the  death  of  Edward  VI.  he  remained  an  uncom- 
promising Protestant,  and  during  Mary's  reign  engaged  in  the 
rash  attempt  to  raise  the  Lady  Jane  Grey  to  the  throne.  The 
rebellion  failing,  Wyatt  was  made  prisoner,  and  on  the  nth 
April,  1554,  paid  the  penalty  of  treason  at  the  block.  With  this 
event  the  Wyatt  family  lost,  for  the  most  part,  their  wealth  and 
their  position ;  although  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  they  were 
restored  to  favor,  and  a  portion  of  their  old  possessions  at  last 
came  back  to  them. 


paw  £>econD. 
WYATT'S     POEMS. 


WYATT'S     POEMS. 


A.   The  Text. 

IN  passing  from  the  record  of  Wyatt's  life  to  a  consideration 
of  his  poetry  it  is. desirable  and  even  necessary  to  glance 
for  a  moment  at  the  history  and  condition  of  the  text. 

With  the  latter  part  of  Queen  Mary's  reign  there  came  an 
innovation  into  English  literary  circles.  The  poetical  mis- 
cellany arrived.  These  volumes  of  selected  poems  at  once 
achieved  a  great  popularity,  and  edition  after  edition  fell  from 
the  press.  First  in  point  of  date  and  of  importance  is  the 
collection  known  as  Tottel's  Miscellany;  the  first  edition  ap- 
peared in  June  of  1557,  was  followed  by  another  in  the  fol- 
lowing month,  and  that  by  a  third  and.  a  fourth,  and  so  on 
until  the  book  had  reached  its  eighth  edition  in  15S7.  This 
volume  has  reappeared  in  the  series  of  English  Reprints  edited 
by  Edward  Arber.  Arber's  reprint  of  Tottel's  Miscellany 
(Birmingham,  1870)  reproduces  the  original  edition  of  5th 
June,  1557,  collated  with  the  second  of  31st  July,  same  year. 
The  Miscellany  contains  forty  poems  by  Henry  Howard.  Marl 
of  Surrey,  ninety-six  by  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  forty  from  the  hand 
of  Nicholas  Grimald,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  .by  un- 
certain authors.  Wyatt's  translation  of  the  Penitential  Psalms 
had  been  published  in  December  of  1549;  but  Tottel's  Mis- 

4 


50  SIX    THOMAS   WYATT 

cellany,  appearing  fifteen  years  -subsequent  to  the  poet's  death, 
formed  the  first  edition  of  Wyatt's  miscellaneous  poems  that 
we  possess ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  Tottel's  publication 
is  of  special  interest  here. 

Of  the  various  editions  of  Wyatt's  works  appearing  since 
that  day,  by  far  the  most  important  is  that  edited  by  the  Rev. 
G.  F.  Nott,  D.  D.,  forming  the  second  volume  of  The  Works  of 
Henry  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey,  and  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  the 
Elder,  London,  iS  15-16.  Dr.  Nott's  bulky  quarto  volume 
contains  an  enormous  mass  of  material  zealously  collected  by 
the  editor,  who  seems  to  have  exhausted  all  sources  of  infor- 
mation in  his  day  accessible.  One  finds  here  extensive  extracts 
from  historical  papers  of  special  interest ;  long  quotations  from 
other  writers  contemporary  with  the  poet ;  copies  of  letters 
and  State  documents  important  and  necessary  in  the  study  of 
Wyatt's  life  and  works.  The  labor  expended  and  the  con- 
scientious care  exhibited  are  really  remarkable,  and  call  for 
more  generous  recognition  than  has  frequently  been  accorded. 
Nott's  work  must  always  remain  a  standard  book  of  reference 
for  those  who  busy  themselves  with  the  study  of  this  poet.  The 
text  which  Dr.  Nott  has  followed  in  his  edition  of  Wyatt's 
poems  differs  materially  from  that  found  in  the  Miscellany. 
It  is  a  text  based  upon  the  reading  of  certain  MSS.  which 
Nott  first  brought  to  public  notice,  and  which  are  especially 
valuable  in  that  they  bring  for  the  first  time  to  our  acquaintance  a 
considerable  number  of  Wyatt's  poems  never  before  published. 

First  in  importance  is  the  so-called  Harington  MS.,  found  in 
the  possession  of  a  certain  Dr.  Harmgton,  of  Bath.  "  It  is 
a  small  folio,  consisting  originally  of  about  270  pages,  some  of 
which  have  been  torn  away,  and  some  mutilated.  It  was  Sir 
Thomas  Wyatt's  own  MS.,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
pieces,  .  .  .  contains  his  poems  exclusively.  The  first  part  of 
the  volume,  as  far  as  page  121,  was  written  evidently  by  an 
amanuensis ;  but  Wyatt  himself  seems  to  have  corrected  care- 
fully the  whole  of  what  had   been   transcribed,  inserting  such 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


51 


lines  and  words  as  had  been  omitted,  and  frequently  making 
alterations.  He  has  added  also  his  name  in  the  margin  of 
almost  every  page  j  sometimes  at  full  length,  sometimes  giving 
his  Christian  name,  Tho  :  or  his  initials,  T.  V.  only.  The 
pieces  which  follow  after  page  121,  as  far  as  page  207,  are  in 
Sir  Thomas  Wyatt's  own  handwriting  throughout,  the  two 
letters  from  Spain  excepted,  which  are  copied  into  the  book 
in  the  handwriting  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  the  son."  l 

'•  All  the  poems  are  marked  with  numbers  at  the  top,  with 
the  word  'Enter'  subjoined;  as  thus,  '  1.  Enter.'  '2.  Enter,' 
etc.  The  numbers  go  as  for  as  six,  which  includes  the  two 
letters  from  Spain.  No.  5  comprehends  the  Satires ;  and  No. 
4  the  Paraphrase  of  the  Seven  Penitential  Psalms,  with  that 
of  the  37th  Psalm.  The  smaller  pieces  seem  to  have  been 
classed  under  No.  1  ;  No.  2  contains  the  Sonnets  ;  and  No.  3 
the  larger  Odes.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  general  prin- 
ciple of  the  arrangement,  which  being  thus  systematical,  was 
made  probably  with  a  view  to  publication."2 

This  valuable  MS.  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Harington 
family  as  early  as  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  as  is  proved 
by  the  handwriting  of  Sir  John  Harington,  which  occurs  fre- 
quently in  it.     The  MS.  has  had  a  varying  history.  - 

A  second  MS.  text,  found  in  the  library  of  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  was  used  by  Dr.  Nott  in  preparing  his.  edition. 
This  MS.  is  a  small  folio  of  225  pages,  containing  Wyatt's  poems 
almost  exclusively,  and  is  written  for  the  most  part  in  one 
handwriting  with  considerable  care  and  neatness.8  Nott  con- 
jectures that  this  second  Wyatt  MS.  was  the  property  of  Wyatt's 
sister,  Margaret  Lee,  or  of  the  Duchess  of  Richmond,  the  sister 
of  Surrey  ;  for  the  names  of  both  these  ladies  occur  in  the 
book.  This  MS.  is  of  special  value  as  containing  several  poems 
found  nowhere  else.4  A  third  MS.  is  obscurely  referred  to  by 
Dr.  Nott  under  the  title  of  Harington  MS.  No.  2  ;  but  he 
specifies  nothing  as  to  its  character  or  value. 

1  Nott,  Preface,   i.         a  Ibid.,  iv.         3  Ibid.,  vii.         4  Ibid.,  ix. 


52 


SIR    THOMAS    IVY  ATT 


Since  the  publication  of  Nott's  quarto,  in  1816,  several  edi- 
tions of  less  note  have  appeared,  sometimes  published  in  con- 
nection with  the  works  of  Surrey,  sometimes  forming  a  single 
volume  of  themselves.  In  nearly  every  case  the  editor  has 
followed  Tottel's  reading,  and  ignored,  so  far  as  possible,  the 
text  given  by  Dr.  Nott.  Among  these  editions  are  found  the 
following  :  — 

Poetical  Works  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  edited  by  Robert  Bell. 
London,  1854. 

The  Aldine  Edition  of  Wyatt's  Works,  edited  by  James 
Yeowell.     London  (no  date). 

The  Riverside  Edition,  published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin,  & 
Co.,  Cambridge  (U.  S.  A.),  1880. 

The  editions  mentioned  are  all  of  the  same  type,  and  while 
not  the  only  ones  that  have  appeared,  have  been  selected  as 
more  generally  accessible.  Bell  occasionally  adopts  a  reading 
found  in  Nott,  while  usually  preferring  Tottel's  text.     He  says  : 

"  The  general  superiority  of  Tottel's  edition  consists  in  the 
presentation  of  a  more  perfect  metre ;  and  it  is  on  that  account 
principally  followed  throughout."  1 

The  Aldine  follows  Tottel  without  variation.  The  Riverside 
is  practically  a  reprint  of  the  Aldine. 

It  may  be  asked  with  reason  why  preference  has  so  generally 
been  accorded  by  the  editors  to  Tottel's  reading  when  that  of 
the  Harington  MS.  would  seem  to  possess  the  superior  au- 
thority of  Wyatt's  ownership  and  correction.  The  answer 
given  in  the  remark  of  Bell's,  which  has  been  quoted,  is  insuf- 
ficient. Smoothness  of  rhythm  is  no  absolute  criterion  in 
critically  selecting  an  authoritative  text.  The  two  texts  must 
be  more  carefully  examined  and  compared. 

Tottel  gives  no  information  regarding  the  origin  of  his  text ; 
but  from  the  character  of  its  variations  from  the  Harington,  it 

1  Bell's  ed  ,  p.  80  (foot-note). 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  53 

may  unhesitatingly  be  pronounced  younger  than  the  M.S.  This 
point  will  be  again  referred  to  further  on.  The  differences  in 
the  reading  of  the  Miscellany  and  the  manuscript  may  be  clas- 
sified as  follows  :  — 

I.  Changes  made  for  metrical  purposes.  Such  are  re-arrange- 
ment in  the  order ;  the  addition  or  the  omission  of  a  syllable  or 
syllables  ;  the  exchange  of  a  word  or  words  for  others  which  fit 
the  measure  better. 

II.  Variations  in  the  phraseology  necessitated  by  a  change  in 
the  thought  interpreted. 

III.  The  substitution  of  one  unimportant  word  for  another,  — 
often  to  be  explained  as  an  error  of  the  copyist  or  printer. 

In  cases  I.  and  II.  the  variations  may  prove  to  be  the  later 
critical  work  of  the  poet  himself,  or  they  may  be  the  result  of 
editorial  revision  at  the  time  that  Tottel's  Miscellany  was  pre- 
pared ;  a  third  possibility  remains,  —  that  the  original  text  became 
corrupt  while  in  MS.  circulation  before  the  publisher  obtained 
possession  of  it.  Dr.  Nott  believes  that  Tottel's  editor  wilfully 
falsified  the  text.1  Later  editors  and  commentators  find  it  in- 
credible that  the  poet  should  not  himself  have  employed  the 
means  to  secure  a  smoother  verse,  if  the  faults  were  so  appa- 
rent and  the  remedy  so  easily  at  hand  that  an  ordinary  book- 
publisher,  fifteen  years  after  the  poet's  death,  should  deem  it 
necessary  to  correct  his  lines,  and  then  succeed  in  accomplish- 
ing the  task  so  well.'2 

But  the  matter  is  not  so  easily  to  be  disposed  of.  In  the  first 
place,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  Wvatt  fills  a  peculiar  posi- 

1  Xott,  p.  537  (notes  to  Sonnets  I.,  II.,  III.). 

-  Kann  man  sich  mit  Nott  der  Ansicht  zuneigen,  dass  cin  Dichter  wic 
Wvatt  seine  Verse  in  einer  oftmals  dem  rhythmischen  Gefiihle  Hohn 
sprechenden  Form  fur  wiirdig  erachtet  habe,  ihren  Lauf  unter  der  vor- 
nehmsten  Gesellschaft  anzutreten,  w'ahrend  schon  fiinfzehn  Jahre  nachher 
ein  gewohnlicher  Buchhandler  dieselben  Verse  so  diirftig  fand,  dass  er  sie 
nicht  In  unveranderter  Gestalt,  sondern  nur  iiberarbcitet  und  iiberpolirt 
in  seinen  Band  vermischtcr  Gedichte  aufnahm ? !  —  RUDOLF  Alscher: 
Sir  Thomas  IVyatt,  etc.  ( Wiener  Beitrage  zur  Jcut.  u.  eng.  Philologie, 
Heft /.), p.  49. 


54 


SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 


tion  in  the  history  of  the  development  of  English  poetry,  which 
none  of  the  other  prominent  writers  of  his  day  can  share.  He 
/  was  practically  the  first  of  the  modern  English  poets ;  and 
although  versed  in  the  methods  of  Petrarch's  art,  and  familiar 
with  the  laws  of  the  French  and  Italian  schools,  Wyatt  was  by 
no  means  so  exact  a  versemaker  as  other  poets  of  his  age. 
In  his  earlier  work:  his  versification  is  crude  enough,  and  his 
verses  resemble  those  of  his  predecessor,  Steuben  Hawes,  much 
more  closely  than  they  do  the  smoother  lines  of  Surrey.  Even 
in  his  later  poems,  notably  in  the  Paraphrase  of  the  Seven  Peni- 
tential Psalms,  there  is  at  times  a  rawness  in  his  treatment  of 
metre  that  is  positively  harsh  and  inharmonious.  Wyatt  should 
not  be  judged  in  the  category  with  the  later  members  of  a  school 
J  which  he  himself  had  in  a  sense  founded.  Any  one  of  them, 
perhaps,  —  and  there  was  a  numerous  company,  —  possessed  a 
more  delicate  sense  of  the  laws  of  rhythm  than  did  he ;  and 
they  were  better  qualified  to  avoid  his  errors,  and  to  improve 
upon  his  methods,  because  he  had  preceded  them  and  prepared 
the  way  before  them. 

Again,  between  the  writing  of  Wyatt's  love-poems  and  the 
publication  of  Tottel's  Miscellany  a  longer  period  than  fifteen 
,  years  had  intervened.  At  least  twenty-five  years,  if  not  more, 
had  elapsed  since  Wyatt  wrote  the  earlier  of  his  songs  and  son- 
nets, in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  variations  are  to  be  found. 
Moreover,  following  Wyatt's  lead,  a  whole  company  of  "  courtly 
makers  "  had  arisen,  with  the  Earl  of  Surrey  at  their  head,  and 
the  average  of  public  taste  and  criticism  was  measurably  higher. 
The  pronunciation  of  many  words,  not  absolutely  fixed  when 
Wyatt  began  to  write,  had  become  settled  in  a  generally  ac- 
cepted form,  —  possibly  during  the  poet's  lifetime,  certainly  by 
the  end  of  the  quarter  century.  For  example,  we  find  in  the 
Harington  MS.,  occurring  in  one  of  the  poems  preserved  to  us 
in  Wyatt's  own  handwriting,  the  verse,  — 

"  You  !  that  in  love  find  luck  and  abundance" x 
1  Nott,  p.  5. 


AXD   HIS  POEMS. 


55 


It  is  evident  here  that  the  poet  accented  the  closing  word  in  the 

old,  familiar  style  of  Chaucer,  tibial Jan \\\  with  a  noticeable  sec- 
ondary accent  on  the  final  syllable  ;  and  so  we  have  the  rhyme, 
abundance,  mischance,  observance,  advdnce.  But  in  TottePs 
Miscellany  we  find  the  verse  running, — 

"  Ye  that  in  love  find  luck  and  sweet  abundance''  l 

No  change  was  then  thought  necessary,  however,  in  the  accent 
of  observance. 

Secondly,  respecting  the  editorship  of  Tottel's  Miscellany. 
We  are  by  no  means  certain  that  this  collection  of  miscellaneous 
poetry  was  prepared  for  the  printer  by  an  ordinary  book-pub- 
lisher. More  than  one  fact  points  forcibly  to  the  surmise  that 
in  the  editor  of  that  volume  we  have  to  recognize  a  well-known 
poet  of  Mary's  reign  ;  namely,  Nicholas  Grimald,  who  was  born 
about  the  year  1519,  and  who  died  previous  to  1562.  He  was 
a  contributor  to  the  pages  of  the  Miscellany,  forty  of  his  poems 
appearing  in  the  first  edition.  The  grounds  for  this  surmise 
in  reference  to-  his  editing  the  book  are,  briefly,  these  :  -  — 

I.  Grimald  had  been  in  business  relations  with  Tottel  pre- 
viously. In  1556  Tottel  printed  Grimald's  translation  of 
Cicero's  De  Ojficiis. 

II.  It  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  Grimald  was  chaplain 
to  the  Bishop  of  Ely  that  Tottel  was  able  to  put  cum  privilegio 
on  that  book. 

III.  The  only  poems  suppressed  in  the  second  edition  of  the 
Miscellany  are  Grimald's  own. 

IV.  The  name  Nicholas  Grimald  disappears  after  the  first 
revision,  and  is  represented  by  :' N.  G." 

V.  Thirty  poems  by  Grimald  of  a  personal  nature  are  removed, 
to  make  place  for  thirty-nine  by  uncertain  authors. 

Nicholas  Grimald  was  not  a  great  poet,  but  he  was  a  clever 
versifier.     He  was,  judging  from  his  poems  in  the  Miscellany,  a 


Tottel,  p.  36;  Aid.  ed.,  p.  5. 

Tottel's  Miscellany  :  Arbcr's  Introduction,  p.  xv, 


56  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

rigid  follower  of  the  ancient  classic  style  in  versification  as  in 
allusion.  He  adheres  with  unvarying  strictness  to  the  iambic 
verse,  and  allows  few  freedoms.  If  Grimald  were  the  editor  of 
Tottel's,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  might  consider  as  a  part  of 
his  editorial  duty  the  moulding  of  the  dead  poet's  verses  into 
what  he  regarded,  and  what,  by  that  time,  his  contemporary 
critics  would  regard,  their  proper  form,  in  obedience  to  the 
rules  which  he  and  they  so  carefully  observed.  What  has  here 
been  said,  however,  is  not  so  much  for  the  purpose  of  establish- 
ing a  theory  respecting  the  editorship  of  Tottel's  Miscellany  as 
to  prepare  the  way  for  a  fairer  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the 
respective  texts  than  has  hitherto  been  accorded ;  and  this 
much  by  way  of  establishing  a  possibility  that  has  been  over- 
looked by  some  of  the  editors  and  critics  who  have  spoken 
authoritatively  upon  the  case. 

A  word  is  necessary  now  regarding  the  condition  of  the  Har- 
ington  text.     Dr.  Nott  has  described  the  MS.  as  follows  :  — 

"The  pieces  which  follow  after  page  121,  as  far  as  page  207 
[viz.,  those  in  Wyatt's  own  handwriting],  .  .  .  are  written  care- 
lessly, and  have  frequent  erasures  and  alterations,  which  prove 
that  Wyatt  made  use  of  the  book  latterly  for  the  rough  draughts 
only  of  his  compositions.  This  will  account  for  the  imperfect  state 
in  which  many  of  them  appear."  1 

Thus,  according  to  Nott's  own  admission,  there  is  doubt  as  to 
the  reliability  of  the  text  in  cases  which  he  thus  specifies,  —  doubt 
not  of  the  genuineness  of  the  MS.  reading,  but  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  following  that  reading ;  for  if  the  "  carelessly  writ- 
ten "  poems  between  pages  121  and  207  are  merely  "rough 
draughts"  afterwards  completed  and  put  in  circulation  in  a 
form  quite  different,  we  should  do  best  implicitly  to  follow 
Tottel's  reading,  and  discard  the  text  which  Dr.  Nott  has 
offered  us.  The  matter  can  be  settled  only  by  a  critical  exam- 
ination of  the  variations ;  and  no  decision  can  be  given  until 

1  Nott,  Preface,  ii. 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  57 

the  two  MSS.  employed  by  Xott,  and  especially  the  Harington, 
shall  have  been  seen  and  studied.  The  writer  regrets  tu  say 
that  lie  has  been  unable  to  gain  access  to  the  original  tcxt>.  and 
therefore  confines  himself  to  a  brief  examination  of  one  or  more 
poems,  which  may  furnish  an  illustration  of  some  of  the  points 
asserted. 

For  this  purpose  we  turn  to  the  Song  of  Iopas  (Xott,  p.  60  ; 
Tottel  (Arber's  reprint),  p.  93  ;  Aid.  cd..  p.  159).  We  examine 
first  the  variations  which  correct  a  metrical  irregulaiity  in  the 
MS.  text.  Such  is  that  found  in  verse  3,  where  Nott  gives  the 
MS.  reading  :  — 

"That  mighty  Atlas  did  teach,  the  supper  lasting  long." 

Tottel  rids  the  verse  of  the  superfluous  syllable  thus  :  — 

"  That  mighty  Atlas  taught  the  supper  lasting  long." 

The  use  of  the  form  with  did  is  common  with  Wyatt.  In  the 
Complaint  of  the  Absence  of  his  Love  (N.  56  ;  T.  73  ;  A.  154), 
we  find  several  instances  all  retained  by  Tottel ;  these  are  as 
follows :  did  lose  (v.  35) ;  did  leave  (v.  44)  ;  did  lead  (v.  68) ; 
did  bring  (v.  76)  ;  did  make  (v.  86).  The  same  form  occurs  in 
the  preceding  verse  of  the  Iopas  poem,  did  force  (v.  2).  It 
seems  apparent  therefore  that  the  alteration  was  made  to  avoid 
the  roughness  in  the  verse.  But  when  originally  written,  an 
elision  must  have  been  intended  of  mighty  Atlas,  which  brings 
the  line  within  proper  bounds.  A  similar  change  occurs  in  the 
verse  which  follows  ;  the  MS.  reading  :  — 

-  With  crisped  locks,  on  golden  harp,  Iopas  sang  in  his  song." 

Tottel  drops  the  possessive,  although  the  elision  in  his  is  by  no 
means  difficult.  In  neither  of  these  cases  have  we  as  yet  any 
right  to  refer  the  alteration  to  Tottel's  editor;  assuming  that 
Nott  here  gives  us  the  correct  reading  of  Wyatt's  autograph  text, 


58  SIR    THOMAS   IVY  ATT 

the  possibility  that  Wyatt  himself  corrected  that  text  at  a  later 
period  is  always  before  us.     Verse  1 1  stands  thus  in  the  MS. : 

"  And  it  is  called  by  name  the  first  moving  heaven." 

Tottel  inserts  a  syllable  and  reads  :  — 

"And  it  is  called  by  name  the  first  and  moving  heaven." 

It  seems  improbable  that  this  insertion  was  made  by  the  poet. 
It  is  not  what  he  means  to  say.  All  the  "  heavens  "  of  which 
he  speaks  are  moving  heavens  ;  he  merely  designates  this  as  the 
first  of  the  series.  In  verse  37  we  find  the  expression  repeated, 
"  in  the  first  moving  heaven  ;  "  and  so  "  the  first  moving  sky," 
in  verse  73  ;  and  again  "the  first  moving  heaven"  in  verse  76. 
In  all  these  cases  the  connective  is  superfluous,  and  spoils  the 
sense;  verse  11,  although  it  lacks  a  syllable  of  the  regular  num- 
ber, is  not  disagreeable  to  the  ear,  and  hardly  calls  for  such  an 
emendation  at  the  cost  of  clearness.  It  may  well  be  doubted 
that  the  poet  is  here  responsible  for  the  change.  The  reading 
of  verse  12,  as  given  us  by  Nott,  is  lacking  by  a  complete  meas- 
ure ;  the  verse  is  an  alexandrine  instead  of  a  septinar,  which  is 
to  be  expected  in  accordance  with  the  form  adopted.  Where 
Nott  reads  :  — 

"  The  firmament  is  next,  containing  other  seven," 

Tottel  gives  us  the  verse  corrected  thus  :  — 

"The  firmament  is  ft/deed  next  containing  other  seven." 

It  is  possible  that  the  missing  word  has  been  accidentally 
omitted  in  transcribing ;  at  any  rate  we  must  look  to  Tottel  for 
the  proper  reading.  Verse  58  has  also  been  changed  to  avoid 
a  roughness  in  the  metre  of  the  original.  The  MS.  reading  is 
this  :  — 

"  And  so  doth  the  next  to  the  same  that  second  is  in  order." 

In  the  text  of  the  Miscellany,  the  verse  reads  :  — 

"  So  doth  the  next  unto  the  same  that  second  is  in  order." 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  59 

The  verse  as  it  stands  in  Tottel  lias  rather  an  artificial  tone  ;  it 
is  not  so  characteristic  of  Wvatt  as  the  former  reading.  The 
change  is  more  suggestive  of  an  editorial  emendation  than  it  is 
of  a  correction  by  the  poet's  own  hand.  The  same  may  be 
said  in  regard  to  the  alteration  in  verse  76,  which  the  MS. 
gives  :  — 

••  Be*  not  "bout  that  axletree  of  the  first  moving  heaven." 

Tottel  reads  :  — 

11  Be  ndt  about 

thus  ridding  the  verse  of  the  freedom  known  as  initial  truncation. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  this  freedom  is  not  a  frequent  one  with 
Wvatt  j  still,  it  does  occur  :  e.  g.t  in  the  Second  Satire,  — 

"  Praise  Sir  Topas  for  a  noble  tale."  —  N.  89;  T.  89;  A.  192. 

We  come  now  to  a  second  class  of  variations,  which  may  be 
due  to  a  simple  error  of  the  pen,  or  to  a  misunderstanding  of 
the  sense.     Verse  20  in  the  MS.  text  stands  thus  :  — 

"Against  the  same  dividing  just  the  roundhy  line  direct." 

In  the  Miscellany  we  find  the  word  ground  substituted  for  the 
word  italicized.  The  poet  is  speaking  of  the  vast  sphere  of 
the  universe,  and  imagines  a  "line  direct"  extending  from  the 
North  Pole  star  to  its  correspondent  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 
This  direct  line  of  course  penetrates  our  own  sphere,  passes 
through  its  centre,  and  forms  the  earth's  diameter.  It  therefore 
just  divides  the  "round,"  which  may  be  either  the  great  sphere 
of  the  universe,  or  the  globe  itself.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
the  word  round  has  a  significance  here  that  is  wanting  in  the 
word  which  Tottel  uses  to  displace  it.  Somewhat  similar  is  the 
case  in  verse  31,  which  is  given  in  the  MS.  text,  — 

'•  And  eke  those  erring  seven  in  circles  as  they  stray," 

where  Tottel  substitutes  the  singular  in  place  of  the  plural  form. 
As  the  poet  here  refers  to  the  heavens  of  verse  26,  and  has  in 


60  S/fi    THOMAS   WYATT 

mind  a  series  of  parallel  circles,  seven  in  number,  revolving  on 
a  common  axis,  it  is  manifestly  more  appropriate  that  he  should 
in  thinking  of  this  complex  revolution  of  the  heavens,  each  in  a 
plane  of  its  own,  employ  the  plural  circles  in  speaking  of  them 
collectively.  Bell  here  follows  Nott ;  the  other  editions  pre- 
serve Totters  reading.  The  editor  of  the  Miscellany  has  badly 
twisted  the  proper  sense  of  verse  54.  In  the  MS.  the  line 
stands,  — 

"And  in  the  same  the  day  his  eye,  the  sun,  therein  he  sticks." 

The  thought,  robbed  of  its  poetic  figure,  is  clearly  this.  In  this 
fourth  circle  the  day  has  set  his  eye,  —  the  sun.  Tottel  regards 
"  the  day  his  eye  "  as  a  possessive ;  the  subject  of  the  sentence 
to  be  circle  ;  he  then  alters  the  pronoun  to  an  ethical  dative,  her, 
which  he  makes  refer  to  circle.  We  then  have  the  remarkable 
line  :. — 

"And  in  the  same  the  dayes  eye  the  sun,  therein  her  sticks." 

This  is  so  manifest  a  blunder  that  all  the  editions  mentioned 
adopt  the  MS.  reading.  Tottel  has  another  manifest  error  in 
verse  61,  where  the  MS.  reads  :  — ■ 

"  That  sky  is  last,  and  first  next  us  those  ways  hath  gone." 

Tottel  alters  the  line  to  read  :  — 

"  That  sky  is  last,  andyfo-/  next  us  •  .         .         .       " 

In  addition  to  the  variations  here  cited,  a  third  group  will  be 
noticed,  but  less  significant  for  our  purpose,  as  not  containing 
any  clew  to  their  origin,  or  any  characteristic  whereby  to  judge 
of  their  respective  values.     These  variations  are  the  following  : 

In  verse  18,  Nott  reads  "  There  be  two  points " 

Tottel,  "  Two  points  there  be " 

"       "      23,  Nott,  "And    these   been    called   the   poles,   de- 

scribed ..." 
Tottel,         "  And  these  be  called  the  poles,  descried . .  ." 


HIS  POEMS, 

doth :          Tottc 
bear'th; 

Ado. 

bears. 

governcth ;      " 
hi  in  selves  j      " 
been ;                " 
that; 

governs. 

themselves. 

be. 

the. 

AND  HIS  POEMS.  £r 

In  verse  26,  Nott  has  doth  ; 
"       "      51,     " 

M  II  3^        .< 

«      „     67i     .. 

«     «    76,   " 

What  shall  our  decision  be  then  respecting  the  comparative 
merits  of  the  texts?  We  have  noted  two  classes  of  significant 
variations  :  I.  Those  made  on  metrical  grounds.  In  one  of 
these  cases  (v.  11)  the  sense  of  the  passage  seems  to  prove  the 
alteration  unjustifiable,  and  makes  us  doubt  the  possibility  of 
its  being  the  poet's  work.  In  two  other  cases  (v.  58,  76)  the 
mechanical  quality  of  the  variation,  and  the  fact  that  the  MS. 
reading  is  not  uncharacteristic  of  the  poet's  handiwork,  leads 
us  to  the  same  conclusion.  In  two  instances  (v.  3,  4)  an  un- 
necessary alteration  has  been  made  to  avoid  a  possible  super- 
fluity of  syllables  already  provided  against  by  an  easy  elision  in 
both  places.  The  only  case  (v.  12)  in  which  we  give  Tottel's  read- 
ing preference  is  of  such  a  character  as  to  suggest  a  very  simple 
oversight  on  the  part  of  the  original  writer  (unless  the  omission 
be  a  transcriber's  error),  and  does  not  throw  discredit  upon  the 
general  authority  of  the  MS.  IT.  The  variations  which  are 
based  on  apparent  misinterpretation,  or  else  on  carelessness  in 
copying,  speak  strongly  for  the  superiority  of  the  MS.  text. 

It  must  now  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  MS.  text  of  this  poem 
is  in  Wyatt's  autograph;  it  is  one  of  the  number  designated  by 
Nott  as  "  carelessly  written,"  possibly  a  "  rough  draught,"  after- 
wards copied  and  corrected  by  the  poet's  own  direction.  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  some  of  the  variations  might  have  origi- 
nated in  this  way  ;  but  the  occurrence  of  others  of  a  character 
forbidding  such  an  assumption  compels  us  to  assert  the  authority 
of  the  Harington  text,  and  to  accept  its  reading. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  another  poem  in  which  material  and  sig- 
nificant variations  may  be  found.  We  will  take  the  sonnet, 
How  oft  have  I  (N.  13;  T.  69;  A.  14).  The  two  versions 
run  as  follows  :  — 


J 


62  SIR    THOMAS   IVYATT 

Harington  MS.  Tottel 
How  oft  have  I,  my  dear  and  cruel  foe, 

With  those  your  eyes  for  to  get  With  my  great  pain  to  get  some 

peace  and  truce,  peace  or  truce, 

Proffered   you  mine  heart;  but  Given  you  my  heart?  but  you  do 

you  do  not  use,  not  use, 

Among  so  high   things,  to  cast  In  so  high  things,  to  cast  your 

your  mind  so  low.  mind  so  low. 

If  any  other  look  for  it,  as  ye  If  any  other  look  for  it,  as  you 

trow,  trow, 

Their  vain  weak  hope  doth  greatly  them  abuse  : 

And  thus  I  disdain  that  that  ye  And    that   thus    I    disdain,  that 

refuse.  you  refuse. 

It  was  once  mine,  it  can  no  more  be  so. 
If  I  then  it  chase,  nor  it  in  you     If  you  it  chase,  that  it  in  you 
can  find,  can  find, 

In  this  exile,  no  manner  of  comfort, 

Nor- live  alone,  nor  where  he  is  called  resort; 

He  may  wander  from  his  natural  kind. 

So  shall  it  be  great  hurt  unto  us  twain, 

And  yours  the  loss,  and  mine  the  deadly  pain. 


It  happens  that  this  particular  poem  is  a  translation  of  one  of 
Petrarch's  sonnets,  —  the  19th.  Milk  fate,  0  dolce  mia  guerrera, 
and  a  comparison  with  the  original  is  quite  instructive.  We 
give  only  those  passages  in  which  the  principal  variations 
occur :  — 

v.  2.    "  Per  aver  cc?  begli  occhi  vostri  pace"  Petrarch. 

"With  those  your  eyes  for  to  get  peace  and  truce."  Har.  MS. 

"  With  my  great  pain  to  get  some  peace  or  truce."        Tottel. 
v.  3.    "  V  aggio  proferto  il  cor ;  trC  a  voi  non  piace." 

"  Proffered  you  mine  heart ;  but  you  do  not  use." 

"  Given     .     .     .     my " 

v.  9.    "  Or,  s"1  io  lo  scaccio,  ed e1  non  trova  in  voi" 

"  If  I  then  it  chase,  nor  it  in  you  can  find." 

"  .  you  (A)     .    .     .     that " 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  63 

We  see  at  a  glance  that  Tottel's  version  is  the  younger  of  the 

two.  In  v.  2,  9,  where  the  thought  lias  been  completely  (hanged, 
the  text  of  the  MS.  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  original.  The 
word  proffered  oi  v.  3  was  evidently  suggested  to  the  translator 
by  the  presence  of  the  Italian  proferto  in  the  line  before  him. 

Iii  certain  cases  where  two  versions  of  a  foreign  original  are  pre- 
served, we  might  be  led  to  suppose  the  freer  version  of  the  two 
a  first  unsatisfactory  attempt  which  had  suggested  a  second  trial, 
resulting  in  a  closer  imitation  of  the  work  translated.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  we  have  no  case  of  this  kind  here.  Of  the  two  ver- 
sions, the  former  is  more  poetical ;  the  latter  more  in  earnest. 
Tottel's  version  is  more  exact  in  its  expression.  "  To  get  some 
peace  or  truce  "  is  more  correctly  put  than  "  to  get  peace  and 
truce."  "  Given  you  my  heart  "  is  far  more  forcible  than  "prof- 
fered" u  If  you  it  chase,  that  it  in  you  can  find,"  better  serves 
the  unity  of  the  poem  than  the  repetition  of  the  idea  of  a  two- 
sided  persecution  implied  in  "  If /then  it  chase,"  etc. 

Moreover,  the  version  given  in  the  Miscellany  corrects  certain 
obvious  faults  in  the  other.  The  change  made  in  v.  4  is  solely 
for  the  purpose  of  ridding  the  line  of  a  superfluous  syllable. 
With  the  alteration  from  /  to  you  in  v.  9,  a  similar  omission  of 
a  superfluous  syllable  occurs.  In  no  instance  do  we  notice  a 
variation  which  suggests  a  blunder  in  the  interpretation  or  the 
copying.  The  order  in  v.  7  has  been  changed  apparently  for  no 
other  reason  than  to  avoid  the  "  that  that "  of  the  MS.  version. 
With  the  exception  of  the  omission  of  a  word  in  v.  4,  9,  respec- 
tively, all  the  changes  have  been  made  solely  as  a  matter  of 
taste  ;  nor  are  they  such  as  would  suggest  themselves  readily  to 
any  person  other  than  the  poet  himself.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
suppose  that  the  two  versions  represent  the  work  of  one  and  the 
same  period  ;  on  the  contrary,  an  interval  of  several  years  may 
have  elapsed,  and  the  Italian  original  of  the  poem  have  passed 
quite  out  of  the  writer's  mind. 

This  brief  presentation  of  these  two  poems  may  be  sufficient  to 
illustrate  the  possible  results  of  a  critical  examination  of  the  two 


64  SfX   THOMAS   WYATT 

texts.  In  some  instances  Tottel's  reading  will  be  found  cor- 
rupt ;  in  other  cases,  to  all  appearance,  a  later  version  from  the 
poet's  own  hand.  From  a  comparison  of  the  texts  as  they  are 
available  in  the  editions  named,  it  is  unmistakably  evident  that 
the  Harington  text  precedes  that  on  which  Tottel's  reading  is 
based.  It  remains  to  be  discovered,  in  the  case  of  each  varia- 
tion for  itself,  whether  the  responsibility  for  the  change  rests 
with  the  poet  or  with  some  other. 

B.   The  Interpretation. 

In  the  opening  portion  of  our  essay  we  considered,  in  so  far 
as  we  are  acquainted  with  them,  the  leading  events  in  Wyatt's 
life.  We  allowed  ourselves,  in  that  'discussion,  to  be  confined 
for  our  sources  of  information  almost  entirely  to  such  records 
of  the  time  as  have  come  down  to  us.  Scarcely  any  reference 
was  made  to  Wyatt  as  a  poet,  and  almost  no  attempt  to  draw 
further  information  from  his  works.  It  is  our  purpose  now  to 
turn  to  Wyatt's  poems  for  assistance ;  and  in  their  interpreta- 
tion to  seek  for  some  additional  light  upon  the  poet's  history. 
The  writer  hopes  to  establish  the  fact  that  Wyatt's  poetry  is 
more  completely  than  supposed  the  suggestion  and  expression 
of  his  own  experience  ;  and  further,  that  the  possibility  exists  of 
tracing  the  development  of  that  experience,  and  thus  arriving  at 
a  definite  criterion  for  determining  the  order,  and  approximately 
the  date  of  groups,  at  least,  of  the  poet's  compositions. 

It  is  an  easy  matter  to  arrange  the  activity  of  the  poet  in  two 
grand  divisions.  Alscher,  in  his  work  on  Wyatt,  before  referred 
to,  regards  the  line  as  falling  coincident  with  the  poet's  impris- 
onment on  Bonner's  charges  about  the  beginning  of  1541.  For 
reasons  stated  in  our  biographical  sketch,  an  earlier  date  ap- 
pears more  satisfactory,  and  we  prefer  to  regard  the  year  1536 
as  marking  the  turning-point  in  the  poet's  career.  The  disturb- 
ance in  the  political  world  at  that  time,  the  events  following 
upon  the   arraignment  of  Anne  Boleyn,   Wyatt's  own   critical 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


65 


position,  appear  to  have  worked  profoundly  on  his  mind,  and 
have  left  an  evident  impress  on  his  work. 

The  earlier  of  the  two  grand  divisions  indicated  may  be 
called  the  Court  Period  of  Wyatt's  life.  It  includes  the  years 
from  1521  or  1522  to  the  year  1536,  beginning  with  Wyatt's 
entrance  into  public  life  at  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age. 
During  this  period,  as  we  have  seen,  he  visited  France  with  Sir 
Thomas  Cheney  in  1526;  accompanied  Sir  John  Russell  to 
Italy  in  1527;  and  during  the  greater  part  of  i52C)-i53owas 
employed  as  high  marshal  of  Calais.  With  these  interrup- 
tions, so  far  as  we  can  gather  from  the  sources  available,  Wyatt 
was  prominent  among  the  distinguished  gentlemen  of  Henry's 
Court,  finding  leisure  now  and  then  to  indulge  his  taste  and 
talent  for  poetic  composition.  To  this  period  belong  almost 
all  the  love-poems,  —  the  sonnets,  the  rondeaux,  many  of  the 
epigrams,  and  nearly  all  that  varied  collection  of  appeals  and 
plaints  which  he  has  left  us  to  interpret  and  to  puzzle  over,  won- 
dering if  the  poet  is  to  be  taken  at  his  word ;  not  always  able 
to  discover  what  he  really  means. 

The  characteristics  of  the  works  which  follow  in  the  second 
period  of  Wyatt's  activity  are  especially  a  deeper  insight,  a 
more  earnest  view  of  life ;  the  expression  of  religious  feeling ; 
an  inclination  to  philosophize.  It  is  the  period  of  the  Satires 
and  the  Paraphrase  of  the  Penitential  Psalms.  We  are  able  also 
to  assign  a  few  scattered  sonnets,  epigrams,  and  other  poems 
to  this  later  period;  in  a  few  cases  to  fix  the  date  more 
accurately. 

A  word  in  regard  to  the  principle  of  interpretation  followed. 
Most  of  Wyatt's  love-poems  are  nominally  addressed  to  a  dis- 
tinct personality ;  they  pretend  to  record  the  poet's  own  expe- 
riences and  fortunes.  Our  only  test  as  to  the  reliability  of  this 
appearance  lies  in  a  comparison  of  the  poems  among  them- 
selves. If  we  are  able  to  discern  resemblances  and  peculiarities 
of  thought  and  form,  to  arrange  in  groups  distinguished  by  a 
characteristic  principle  of  treatment,  and  then  to  trace  a  line  of 

5 


/ 


66  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

unity  and  an  order  of  development  running  through  them  all, 
we  may  then  seek  to  reconcile  the  results  of  our  theoretical 
arrangement  with  the  known  facts  in  Wyatt's  biography,  and  try 
to  determine  the  personality  of  his  heroine. 

Wyatt's  earlier  versification  was  materially  different  from  that 
which  he  subsequently  adopted ;  and  this  fact  makes  it  com- 
paratively easy  to  select  some  among  his  poems  which  must 
have  been  produced  at  a  very  early  date.  Nott,  in  his  essay 
on  the  versification  of  Wyatt,  also  in  his  dissertation  contained 
in  the  volume  devoted  to  Surrey,  calls  it  "  rhythmical,"  "  differ- 
ing in  no  respect  from  that  of  either  Hawes  or  Barclay,  or  the 
other  writers  who  preceded  him."  x  By  the  term  "  rhythmical," 
Nott  means  a  verse  cast  not  in  the  regular  iambic  decasyllabic 
form,  but  one  read  with  a  strongly  marked  caesura  in  the  middle 
of  the  line,  containing  more,  or  fewer,  syllables  than  the  verses 
which  precede  and  follow,  but  agreeing  with  them  in  the  num- 
ber of  principal  accents,  generally  four,  and  depending  on  the 
use  of  the  pause,  and  the  swing  of  the  verse,  for  its  conformity 
to  the  general  rhythm.  It  might  happen,  and  indeed  does, 
that  the  line  is  decasyllabic  without  necessarily  becoming  iambic 
also ;  and  here  it  is  necessary  to  read  the  verse,  not  with  the 
accent  bestowed  as  in  an  iambic  line,  but  in  the  older  style  with 
the  caesura  strongly  marked  and  the  stress  placed  on  those  syl- 
lables where  it  would  most  naturally  fall.  The  following  verses 
may  serve  to  illustrate  the  meaning  of  the  paragraph :  — 

"  But  death  were  deliverance  |  and  life  length  of  pain. 
Of  two  ills,  let  see,  |  now  choose  the  le'st. 
This  bird  to  deliver,  |  you  that  hear  her  plain ; 
Your  advice,  you  lovers,  |  which  shall  be  best  ?  " 

N.  48;  T.  225;   A.  55. 

We  have  given  Nott's  reading  of  the  lines,  Tottel's  version  hav- 
ing been  altered  so  as  to  conform  much  more  closely  to  the 
normal  type.     Whether  the  change  proceeded  from  the  editor, 

1  Essay  in  the  vol.  of  Wyatt's  poems,  p.  cxlviii ;  also  in  the  disserta- 
tion preceding  Surrey's  poems,  p.  clxxxiv. 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  67 

or  from  the  poet,  it  is  evident  that  we  have  the  original  form 
before  us.  An  intermediate  stage  followed  this  earliest  period, 
characterized  by  an  accurate  observance  of  the  French  rule 
regulating  the  number  of  syllables  in  the  line.  It  is  for  his  ele-  (/ 
vation  of  this  principle,  so  important  in  the  development  of 
English  metre,  that  Wyatt  deserves  the  highest  recognition. 
But  while  methodically  observant  of  this  rule,  Wyatt  often 
failed  to  reconcile  the,  at  times  antagonistic,  word-accent  and 
verse-stress.  This  task  fell  rather  on  Surrey's  shoulders;  whilel/ 
elaborating  the  principle  which  Wyatt  had  established,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  adapting  the  foreign  verse  to  English  pronunciation, 
and  demonstrated  the  principle  of  agreement  between  the  two. 
The  following  verses  will  serve  as  illustration  :  — 


•o 


"  The  long  love  that  in  my  thought  doth  harbour, 
And  in  mine  heart  doth  keep  his  rdsideiice, 
Into  my  face  press&h  with  bold  pretdnce, 
And  therein  campeth  spreading  his  banner."  l 

N.  1;  T.  33;  A.  1. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  Surrey's  treatment  of  the  metre  in 
his  translation  of  this  same  sonnet :  — 

"  Love  that  lfveth,  and  refgneth  in  my  thought, 
That  built  his  seat  within  my  cdptive  breast, 
Clad  in  the  arms,  wherein  with  me  he  fought, 
Oft  in  my  face  he  doth  his  banner  rest." 

Tottel's  Misc.,  p.  8. 

From  the  comparative  fewness  in  examples  of  the  earliest 
type  of  verse  construction,  it  is  evident  that  Wryatt  very  soon 
passed  to  this  second  stage,  and  that  the  poems  cast  in  the 
style  of  The  long  love  are  still  among  the  early  compositions. 
The  development  of  Wyatt's  system  was  of  course  gradual  ; 
hence  we  find  verses  characteristic  of  either  period  intruding 
among  those  which  represent  another.  Having  recognized  then 
the  gradual  development  of  Wyatt's  skill  in   his  progress  from 

1  Compare  Alscher,  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  etc.,  Wiener  Beitrage,  i.  77. 


68  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

the  rougher  work  of  the  earliest  period  to  that  of  the  third,  the 
period  of  his  best  and  most  harmonious  work,  we  are  provided 
with  a  means  for  deciding  which  among  his  poems  we  may  call 
his  earliest ;  we  then  pass  on  to  the  comparison  of  the  others, 
relying  on  our  interpretation  of  the  poems  and  any  chance  pe- 
culiarity of  metre  or  of  form  that  may  distinguish  them.  As  the 
poems  are  arranged  in  groups,  they  will  be  classified  according 
to  their  stanza  form ;  this  plan  will  enable  us  to  avoid  some  con- 
fusion in  determining  the  relation  of  the  poems  to  one  another 
within  the  groups,  and  at  the  same  time  help  us  to  trace  the 
prevalence  of  special  forms  at  particular  periods. 


EARLIEST   POEMS. 

N.  T.  A. 

Avising  the  bright  beams 10  40  11 

Ever  mine  hap  is  slack 12  68  13 

Sonnets. \  T  ,  „     .  ,  ,. 

Love  and  Fortune  and  my      ....     12  69  13 

Like  to  these  unmeasurable  ....     13  70  15 

Ottava     ( For  shamefast  harm 6$  82  165 

Rima.     \  Vulcan  begat  me 6$  82  r66 

Rhyme 

Royal. 

abab         Absence  absenting 258  —  142 


[•  Like  as  the  bird 47      225         54 


It  is  probable  that  Wyatt  had  written  poems  earlier  than  those 
which  compose  this  group,  but  these  bear  all  the  marks  of 
apprenticeship,  and  are  to  be  designated  as  his  earliest  work 
that  has  come  down  to  us.  The  metre  here  employed  is  that 
which  has  been  already  described  as  characteristic  of  the  earliest 
compositions.  The  pieces  may  be  characterized  collectively  as 
crude.  They  are  almost  without  exception  drawn  from  foreign 
sources.  Avising  the  bright  beams  is  probably  a  translation, 
\/  the  first  word  of  the  sonnet  being  used  evidently  in  the  sense 
of  the  Italian  avvissare,  "to  look  at  attentively."1  It  seems 
likely  that  the  word  was  suggested  to  the  poet  by  the  presence 

1  Nott,  Notes,  p.  541. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  $g 

of  the  Italian  word  in  the  original  of  what  we  here  conjecture  to 
be  a  translation  merely.  We  find  another  example  similar  to 
this  in  the  sonnet  If  amorous  faith}  V.  5  reads  in  Nott's  ver- 
sion, "  If  in  my  visage  each  thought  depainted"     Depainted  is 

not  a  common  word;  and  in  the  Miscellany  the  word  distained 
is  substituted  ;  but  the  MS.  reading  is  correct,  and  was  suggested 
by  the  Italian  word  dipinto,  which  occurs  in  the  original.  Ever 
mine  hap  is  slack  is  a  translation  of  Petrarch's  44th  sonnet : 
Mie  venture  at  venirson  tarde  e  pigre*  lore  and  Fortune  is 
from  Petrarch's  99th  sonnet :  Amor,  Fortuna,  e  la  mia  mente 
schiva.  like  to  these,  was  stated  by  Puttenham  to  be  a  trans- 
lation of  one  of  Petrarch's  sonnets  also ;  Nott  believes  this  to 
be  a  mistake,  but  thinks  it  was  probably  borrowed  from  some 
Italian  writer  of  the  school  of  Tibaldeo  or  Accolti.-  For 
shamefast  harm  is  paraphrased  from  the  epigram  of  Ausonius  : 
Thesauro  invento  qui  limina  mortis  i nib  at.2  Vulcan  begat 
me  occurs  in  the  MS.  with  this  title  :  "A  riddle  ex  Fandulpho" 
The  original  begins,  Vulcan  us  genuit;  peperit  Natural  Like 
as  the  bird,  and  Absence  absenting,  are,  so  far  as  we  know, 
original  poems.  As  regards  the  interpretation  of  these  early 
poems,  little  need  be  said.  The  sonnets  are  translations,  and 
probably  nothing  more.  Avising  the  bright  beams  may  be 
addressed  to  some  particular  lady ;  the  others  probably  not. 
Like  as  the  bird  and  the  two  epigrams  are  of  course  mere 
exercises  of  skill  or  pleasure.  Absence  absenting  perhaps  refers 
to  some  period  of  absence  from  Court,  but  is  to  be  regarded 
as  a  message  of  gallantry  rather  than  the  utterance  of  a  real 
passion.  It  is  to  be~  noted  that  among  what  seem  to  be  the 
earliest  of  Wyatt's  compositions,  we  find  the  sonnet,  the  rhyme 
royal  stanza,  familiar  through  the  use  made  of  it  by  Chaucer,  the 
ottava  rima,  like  the  sonnet,  borrowed  from  his  Italian  masters, 
and  the  simple  cross  rhyme  aba  b.  We  find  no  example  of 
the   single  rhyme  stanza  in  the  group.  \ 

1  N.  14;  T.  70;  A.  15.  «  Nott,  p.  554. 

2  Nott,  Notes,  p.  543.  4  Nott,  p.  555. 


JO  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

GROUP    I.   OF   THE    LOVE-POEMS, 
a.     Sonnets. 

N.  T.  A. 

The  long  love i  33  1 

"    The  lively  sparks 3  34  3 

-  Such  vain  thought 4  35  4 

Unstable  dream 4  35  4 

[Caesar,  when  that 6  37  6] 

[Each  man  tells  me 7  37  7] 

Some  fowls  there  be 7  38  8 

Because  I  have 8  38  8 

I  find  no  peace 9  39  9 

My  galley  charged     . 9  39  10 

Such  is  the  course 11  62  12 

If  amorous  faith 14  70  15 

The  two  sonnets  in  brackets  are  placed  rather  doubtfully  in 
this  group ;  perhaps  they  might  with  equal,  or  better,  propriety 
be  assigned  to  the  earliest  period.  Aside  from  this  there  is 
apparent  connection  between  the  poems  of  the  set.  The  fol- 
lowing are  from  Petrarch  :  — 

1.  The  long  love.  Amor,  che  net  fiensier. 

2.  Such  vain  thought.  Pien  d'un  vago  pensier. 

3.  Caesar,  when  that.  Cesare,  poi  che  V  traditor. 

4.  Some  fowls  there  be.  Son  animali  al  mondo. 

5.  Because  I  have  thee.  Perch'  io  fabbia  guai'dato. 

6.  I  find  no  peace.  Pace  non  trovo. 

7.  My  galley  charged.  Passa  la  nave  mia. 

8.  If  amorous  faith.  S'unafede  amorosa. 

All  of  these  Italian  originals  may  be  found  in  the  notes  to 
Nott's  edition,  No.  5  excepted.  It  is  seen  that  a  large  propor- 
tion of  this  group  also  is  translation ;  and  it  must  be  added  that 
the  opening  verse  of  The  lively  sparks  is  borrowed  from 
Petrarch  as  well,  the  original  being  found  in  Petrarch's  220th 
sonnet,    Vive  favi lie  uscian  de1  duo  bei  lumi. 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  jX 

In  versification  these  poems  are  about  on  a  level.  The  verses 
arc  pretty  generally  in  the  style  of  what  in  a  preceding  paragraph 
we  termed  the  second  stage  of  Wyatt's  art ;  still,  the  quicker- 
moving  four-stress  verse  recurs  often,  and  almost  every  sonnet 
of  the  number  contains  examples.  Let  it  be  said  in  this  con- 
nection that  it  is  to  the  reading  as  given  by  the  Harington  MS. 
text  that  we  must  look  for  the  original  form  in  which  these 
poems  appeared  ;  and  it  is  naturally  the  original  appearance  of 
the  poem  only  that  can  be  of  any  value  here.  Not  only  do  we 
note  an  improvement  in  versification  in  passing  from  the  last 
group  to  that  now  before  us,  but  we  notice  also  that  there  is 
more  of  poetry  in  the  thought,  and  greater  ease  and  vigor  in 
expression.  The  facility  and  regularity  of  a  later  period  are  still 
wanting,  but  it  is  evident  that  we  here  have  other  than  mere  be- 
ginnings. The  sentiment  is  the  same  in  all ;  and  the  question 
of  the  interpretation  of  the  poems  naturally  arises.  Perhaps  it 
will  be  best  to  leave  this  question  until  we  have  examined  the 
remaining  poems  to  be  assigned  to  the  group. 

b.     Rhyme-royal  Stanza. 


N.  T.  A. 


Thou  restful  place 24  45  33 

Resound  my  voice 25  43  34 

For  want  of  will 36  59  44 

What  word  is  that 80  223  1S3 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  note  the  strong  resemblance  in 
the  poems  here  presented ;  not  only  in  stanza  form,  and  in  the 
thought  embodied  in  that  form,  but  in  the  style  of  expression 
and  the  general  effect  of  the  individual  poems,  there  is  unanimity 
so  marked  as  to  indicate  the  work  of  a  single  period. 

Thou  restful  place  and  Resound  my  voice  are  very  closely  re- 
lated, and  both  are  suggestive  of  the  sonnet  Unstable  dream} 
In  the  concluding  stanza  of  Resound  my  voice  we  find  these 
verses  :  — 

1  N.4;  T.35;  A.  4. 


72 


SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 


"  Why  then,  alas,  doth  not  she  on  me  rue  ? 
Or  is  her  heart  so  hard  that  no  pity 
May  in  it  sink,  my  joy  for  to  renew?  " 

This  is  helpful  in  a  double  way :  it  sustains  the  correctness  of 
Nott's  reading  in  his  version  of  the  sonnet  Unstable  dream, 
v.  6,  7  :  — 

"  By  tasted  sweetness  make  me  not  to  rue 


\ 


Thou  broughtest  not  her  into  this  tossing  mew; 
But  madest  my  sprite  live  my  care  to  renew." 

Wyatt  was  somewhat  restricted  in  his  rhymes,  and  the  same 

(/  rhyme  frequently  recurs  in  his  poems,  especially  in  those  of  a 

Vsingle  period.     The  occurrence  of  this  rhyme  here,  therefore, 

not  only  attests  the  accuracy  of  the  MS.  text ;  it  also  emphasizes 

the  probability  that  both  poems  are  productions  of  about  the 

same  date. 

For  want  of  will  introduces  an  eight-syllable  iambic  verse 
which  is  employed  with  great  perfection  throughout ;  not  a 
single  irregularity  occurring  within  its  lines.  This  poem  is 
found  in  Tottel  only ;  hence  we  are  not  certain  that  it  is  the 
original  form  of  the  poem  which  we  now  have  before  us.  It 
has  all  the  appearance  of  a  real  love-poem ;  it  is  not  a  transla- 
tion nor  an  imitation,  so  far  as  known,  but  an  original  produc- 
tion, inspired  by  genuine  feeling. 

What  word  is  that  ?  also  in  eight-syllable  verse ;  and  here 
again  the  measure  is  employed  with  complete  success.  The 
MS.  text  varies  somewhat  from  that  used  by  Tottel,  and  in 
this  case  the  reading  of  the  latter  version  seems  more  charac- 
teristic of  the  poet  than  does  the  former.     The  closing  verse, 

"It  is  my  salve  and  eke  my  sore" 

has  its  parallel  in  the  two  following  lines  :  — 

"  Why  dost  thou  stick  to  salve  that  thou  madest  sore  ?  "  x 
"  My  gain,  my  loss,  my  salve,  my  sore."  2 

1  N.  71, 4  ;  A.  172, 12  ;  T.  66, 18.      2  N.  27,  22  ;  A.  36,  15  ;  T.  52,  18. 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


73 


There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  this  case  the  poet  is  addressing 
his  lines  to  a  particular  lady.  The  epigram  is  introduced  among 
the  poems  of  this  group,  not  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  personal 
color  to  the  romance  developing,  but  because,  as  will  be  seen 
with  our  progress,  there  is  no  appropriate  place  for  it  among 
the  groups  which  follow.    » 

c.  O'tava  Rima. 

N.  T.  A. 

The  furious  gun 70  54  171 

This  epigram  naturally  belongs  with  the  early  poems  of  this 
group,  —  with  the  sonnets  which  are  marked  by  the  same  irreg- 
ularity in  metre.  It  is  like  most  of  them,  a  translation  or  imi- 
tation of  an  Italian  original,  being  borrowed  from  the  poet 
Serafino. 

d.  a  b  a  b  Stanza. 

N.  T.  A. 

So  unwarely 39  65  47 

Comfort  thyself 166  —  70 

Heaven  and  earth 154  —  58 

Process  of  time 185  —  86 

Like  as  the  swan 187  —  87 

Like  as  the  wind —  —  184 

So  unwarely  contains  suggestions  of  both  Petrarch  and 
Chaucer ;  v.  5,  for  instance,  is  perhaps  a  repetition  of — 

"  But  I  was  hurt  right  now  thorough  mine  eye 
Into  mine  heart."1 

And  the  line  Down  unto  my  heart  it  ran,  was  perhaps  suggested 
by  the  verse  in  one  of  Petrarch's  sonnets  :  — 

"  Ed  aperta  la  via  per  gli  occhi  at  core"  2 

The  third  stanza  of  this  poem  repeats  the  thought  of  the  son- 

1   Cant.  Tales,  1.  1099.  2  Nott,  p.  549. 


74  MA    THOMAS   WYATT 

net  Some  fowls  there  be}  This  piece  introduces  a  novelty  in 
its  manner  of  construction  ;  while  the  first  three  verses  of  every 
stanza  are  decasyllables,  the  stanza  closes  in  each  instance  with 
an  octosyllabic  verse. 

Comfort  thyself  is  evidently  expressive  of  the  writer's  real 
feelings.  He  indicates  the  despair  into  which  he  has  fallen : 
to  speak  is  useless ;  but  the  yoke  is  on  his  neck,  and  he  can- 
not shake  it  off.     This  poem  is  entirely  in  eight-syllable  verse. 

Heaven  and  earth,  in  its  general  style,  suggests  a  possible 
connection  with  Resound  my  voice}  It  evidently  belongs  with 
the  latest  poems  of  this  period  :  — 

"  It  is  not  now,  but  long  and  long  ago 
I  have  you  served,  — "  (v.  7.) 

Process  of  time.  This  poem  is  written  in  a  peculiar,  measure  ; 
the  presence  of  irregularly  recurring  anapaestic  feet  produces  a 
singular  rhythmical  effect,  and  yet  the  result  is  not  unpleasing, 
nor  can  we  regard  this  peculiar  metre  a  characteristic  of  Wyatt's 
earliest  period  alone,  —  indeed  we  find  pieces  of  this  character 
at  a  time  presumably  much  later  than  this.  Of  the  relation  be- 
tween this  poem  and  the  others  in  the  set  we  shall  soon  have 
better  opportunity  to  speak. 

Like  as  the  swan  is  in  import  similar  to  Heaven  and  earth. 
We  here  have  a  complete  verse  serving  as  refrain,  and  sugges- 
tive, in  its  repetition,  of  the  plan  followed  in  that  poem. 

Like  as  the  wind:  not  found  in  Nott's  edition.  It  voices 
the  same  complaints  as  the  preceding  poems.  In  the  next  to 
the  closing  stanza  there  again  seems  to  be  a  reference  to  Some 
fowls  there  be : 3 — 

"  Like  as  the  fly  doth  seek  the  flame, 
And  afterward  playeth  in  the  fire, 
Who  findeth  her  woe,  and  seeketh  her  game, 
Whose  grief  doth  grow  of  her  own  desire." 

1  N.7;  T.38;  A.8.       2  N.25;  T.43;  A.  34.       «  N.  7;  T.  38;  A.  8. 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


75 


e.    Single-Rhyme  Stanza. 

With  the  advent  of  this  period  Wyatt  begins  to  employ  the 
single-rhyme  stanza,  but  in  connection  with  a  short  refrain. 
which  may  or  may  not  rhyme  with  the  verses  which  precede. 
The  eight-syllable  verse  prevails ;  the  stanzas  consist  some- 
times of  three,  sometimes  of  four  lines.  We  group  the  follow- 
ing here  :  — 

N.  T.  A. 

What  meaneth  this 215  —  105 

To  cause  accord 179  —  80 

To  wish  and  want 173  —  75 

What  rage  is  this 45  80  52 

What  meaneth  this.  There  is  evidently  connection  between 
this  poem  and  two  already  mentioned,  —  Unstable  dream l  and 
Thou  restful  place*  All  three  poems  derive  their  motive  from 
a  common  source ;  and  the  reader  may  make  an  interesting 
comparison  if  he  chooses,  by  turning  to  our  English  translation, 
the  "Romaunt  of  the  Rose/'  beginning  with  v.  2525.  The 
sixth  and  seventh  stanzas,  too,  — 

"  But  if  I  sit  near  her  by, 
With  loud  voice  my  heart  doth  cry, 
And  yet  my  mouth  is  dumb  and  dry; 
What  means  this  ? 

"  To  ask  for  help  no  heart  I  have  ; 
My  tongue  doth  fail  what  I  should  crave  ; 
Yet  inwardly  I  rage  and  rave : 
What  means  this  ?  "  — 

contain  suggestions  of  the  sonnet  Beeause  I  have  thee.3 

To  eause  aceord  and  To  wish  and  want  contain  allusions 
obviously  suggestive  of  the  sentiments  and  expressions  found 
in  other  poems  of  this  set,  and  seem  to  find  their  appropriate 
place  in  the  group. 

1  N.4;  T.35;  A.4.      »  N.24;  T.45;  A.  33.       «  x.S;  T.  3S ;  A.  S. 


76 


SIR    THOMAS    IVVATT- 


What  rage  is  this  differs  from  the  three  poems  which  pre- 
cede, in  that  the  measure  is  decasyllabic,  and  the  short  verse 
taking  the  place  of  the  refrain  is  a  simple  six-syllable  line  not 
rhymyig  with  the  others  in  the  stanza,  nor  having  connection 
in  any  way  with  the  corresponding  verse  in  the  other  stanzas. 
The  poem  will  be  referred  to  later. 

• 

f.   Anomalous  Forms. 

There  are  several  other  poems  which  are  grouped  most  ap- 
propriately with  the  foregoing.  The  stanza  form  differs  here ; 
and  as  the  pieces  are  not  to  be  classified  under  any  of  the  types 
already  noted,  and  to  increase  the  number  of  subordinate 
classes  might  prove  confusing  on  account  of  the  great  variety 
of  rhyme  combinations,  we  allow  these  anomalous  forms  to  con- 
stitute a  class  by  themselves.  They  appear  to  have  generated 
spontaneously  with  VVyatt,  and  in  many  cases  are  employed  in 
only  a  single  composition. 

N.  T.  A. 

My  love  is  like 232  —  120 

At  last  withdraw 209  —  100 

Heart  oppressed 227  —  116 

Love  cloth  again 253  —  139 

Since  ye  delight 169  —  72 

Sufficed  not 78  76  180 

Lo  how  I  seek 231  —  119 

Pass  forth 32  $6  40 

Without  stopping  for  further  comment  upon  the  sentiment  of 
these  poems,  the  connection  and  the  application  of  which  is 
sufficiently  obvious,  we  will  point  out  the  peculiarities  of  con- 
struction which  are  their  principal  characteristic. 

My  love  is  like :  ababcccdd. 

At  last  withdraw  :  ababccddd. 

It  is  interesting  here  to  note  the  similarity  in  the  rhyme 
order,  —  probably  one  suggested  the  other.     In  the  first  case, 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


77 


however,  the  verse  is  decasyllabic  throughout ;  while  in  the  last 
named,  the  stanza  is  metabolic :  the  two  a  rhymes  being  eight- 
syllable  ;  the  others  six-syllable. 

Heart  oppressed:  a  b  a  b  c  c. 

The  verse  is  eight-syllable.  This  simple  stanza-form,  occur- 
ring quite  often  in  Wyatt's  poetry,  might  have  been  a  develop- 
V  ment  of  the  rhyme  royal  stanza  a  b  a  b  \_b~]  c  c,  or  of  the  ottava 
rima,  a  b  a  b  \_a  b~\  c  c. 

Love  doth  again :  a  a  b  a  a  b. 

Here  we  have  the  so-called  "  tail-rhyme  "  stanza.  It  is  the 
first  example  which  we  have  found  of  the  use  of  the  sJwrt  line 
by  Wyatt.  The  a  verses  are  dipodies,  the  b  six-syllable.  It  is 
possible  to  regard  such  a  combination  as  a  dismembered  four- 
teen-syllable  verse ;  but  it  is  improbable  that  Wyatt  had  this 
origin  in  mind. 

Since  ye  delight :  aabbaa  +  r. 

In  this  poem  the  two  b  verses  are  each  of  four  syllables ;  the 
a  lines  trimeter,  and  the  refrain  eight-syllable. 

Sufficed  not:  abba. 

The  verse  is  pentameter  throughout. 

Lo  how  I  seek :  a  b  a  b  b  c  b  c. 

This  poem  is  entirely  in  eight-syllable  verse. 

Pass  forth  :  a  b  a  b  c  d  c  d. 

The  poem  is  composed  in  six-syllable  verse ;  the  stanza  form 
is  very  similar  to  the  last.  One  might  be  disposed  to  consider 
this  a  simple  a  b  a  b  stanza ;  but  the  division  is  made  with 
reference  to  the  thought  as  well  as  to  the  rhyme,  each  octavo 
treating  of  a  particular  motive  and  being  complete  in  itself. 
In  connection  with  this  poem  we  desire  to  examine  three 
other  pieces,  already  noted,  which  stand  in  close  connection 
with  it  and  with  one  another.  These  are  :  Such  is  the  course 
(class  a),  Process  of  time  (class  d),  and  What  rage  is  this 
(class  e).  When  these  four  poems  are  compared,  their  mutual 
relation  is  obvious. 


7* 


S/P    THOMAS   WYATT 


Pass  forth  (N.  32  ;  T.  56;  A.40). 
v.   17-24. 

"  And  as  the  water  soft, 
Without  forcing  or  strength, 
Where  that  it  falleth  oft 
Hard   stones   doth   pierce    at 

length  : 
So  in  her  stony  heart 


Process  of  time  (N.  185; 
A.  86). 

Process  of  time   worketh    such 

wonder, 
That   water   which    is    of    kind 

so  soft, 
Doth  pierce  the   marble   stone 

asunder, 
My  plaints  at  last  shall  grave,     By    little    drops     falling    from 


And,  rigour  set  apart, 
Win  grant  of  that  I  crave. 


aloft. 

And  yet  a  heart  that  seems  so 
tender, 

Receiveth  no  drop  of  the  still- 
ing tears 

That  alway  still  cause  me  to 
render 

The  vain  plaint  that  sounds 
not  in  her  ears." 


Stick  is  the  course  (N.  11;  T. 
62;  A.  12). 

"Such  is  the  course  that 

nature's  kind  hath  wrought, 
That  snakes  have  time 

to  cast  away  their  stings  : 
Against  chain'd  prisoners 

what  need  defence  be  sought  ? 
The  fierce  lion  will  hurt 

no  yielden  things." 


Ditto,  v.  9-12  ;  17-20. 

'  So  cruel,  alas  !  is  naught  alive, 
So  fierce,  so  froward,  so  out  of 

frame, 
But  some  way,  some  time  may 

so  contrive 
By  means   the   wild  to   temper 

and  tame. 

The   lion   in  his    raging  furour 
Forbears  that  sueth,  meekness 

for  his  boot  ; 
And    thou,    alas  !    in    extreme 

dolour, 
The   heart  so  low  thou   treads 

under  thy  foot." 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  yg 

Pass  forth,  v.  9-12.  Ditto,  v.  13-16. 

"  For  though  hard  rocks  among    "And  I  that  always  have  sought, 
She  seems  to  have  been  bred,  and  seek 

And  of  the  tiger  long  Each  place,  each  time  for  some 

Been  nourished  and  fed."  lucky  day, 

This  fierce  tiger,  less  I  find  her 

meek, 
And  more  denied  the  longer  I 
pray." 

What  rage  is  this  (N.  45  ;  T.  80  ;  A.  52). 
v.  1 1— 16. 

"  Go  to,  triumph,  rejoice  thy  goodly  turn, 

Thy  friend  thou  dost  oppress. 
Oppress  thou  dost,  and  hast  of  him  no  cure, 
Nor  yet  my  plaint  no  pity  can  procure, 
Fierce  tiger  fell  !  hard  rock  without  recure  ! 
Cruel  rebel  to  love  ! " 

It  must  be  agreed  that  the  similarity  in  motive  andjexpression 
noted  in  the  case  of  these  four  poems  is  quite  remarkable.  Such 
correspondence  is  more  than  unusual  in  works  separated  by  long 
intervals  in  time  of  composition ;  and  in  the  absence  of  any  evi- 
dence pointing  to  the  contrary,  we  may  feel  entirely  justified  in 
referring  the  pieces  cited  to  a  common  date. 

This  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  list  of  compositions  assigned 
to  this  group.  We  have  tried  to  show  the  existence  of  an  inti- 
mate relationship  among  them ;  but  the  demonstration  of  this 
relationship  must  be  sought  in  a  study  of  the  poems  named.  It 
is  impossible  to  do  more  than  barely  indicate  superficial  resem- 
blances here  ;  the  strongest  evidence,  after  all,  is  found  in  the 
general  impression  resulting  from  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the 
entire  field.  Similarity  of  sentiment,  the  frequent  recurrence  of 
a  favorite  motive,  the  repetition  of  characteristic  forms  of  ex- 
pression, would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  poems  thus  related 
"must "Be  the  productions  of  a  single  period.  Of  the  poems  here 
collected,  the  sonnets  were  probably  among  the  earliest  compo- 


go  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

sitions.  Those  cast  in  other  forms  of  verse  arrangement  show 
for  the  most  part  a  higher  development  of  art  and  skill. 
Moreover,  as  we  advance  we  note  the  growing  infrequency  of 
translations ;  the  percentage  of  poems  from  a  foreign  source  is 
very  high  among  the  earliest  pieces.  The  original  poems  have 
all  the  appearance  of  being  the  expression  of  real  feelings  and 
experiences ;  the  thoughts  uttered  in  these  pieces  are  taken  up 
and  repeated  in  the  translated  poems  :  we  therefore  judge  that 
the  pieces  chosen  for  translation  were  selected  with  regard  to 
their  contents.  Our  plan  of  grouping  can  be  judged  upon  its 
merits  only  after  the  various  groups  have  been  presented  and 
the  order  of  growth  established. 

This  early  period  may  be  designated  as  that  of  Protestation 
and  Entreaty ;  a  new  motive  is  introduced  in  the  group  to 
follow. 


AXD  HIS  POEMS. 


81 


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rr-.    o     N     m  O     ^    <-o    m 


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82  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 


Group  II. 


We  enter  herewith  upon  a  second  phase  of  the  poet's  verse. 
In  the  compositions  of  this  period  the  lover  expresses  himself  as 
happy  in  the  love  of  his  lady,  but  forever  harassed  by  necessity 
of  concealment ;  the  affection  is  mutual,  but  disclosure  of  the 
relationship  would  be  fatal  to  the  happiness  of  both.  This  mo- 
tive binds  the  group  of  poems  unmistakably  together,  strongly 
attests  the  fact  that  here  is  the  record  of  a  real  experience, 
and  casts  a  most  important  light  upon  the  personality  of  the 
heroine.  At  this  time  Wyatt  does  not  appear  to  have  turned  to 
the  sonnet  as  the  form  selected  to  express  his  fancies,  nor  to 
the  stanza  made  familiar  by  Chaucer's  use  of  it.  The  lighter 
cross-rhyme  stanza,  and  the  short,  crisp  form  of  the  epigram, 
appear  to  be  the  favorite  types  of  the  group.     We  have  :  — 

a.    a  b  a  b  Stanza. 

N.  T.  A. 

Once,  as  methought 21  63  30 

After  great  storms 156  —  60 

I  love,  loved 211  —  102 

The  heart  and  service 214  —  104 

The  idea  of  concealment  does  not  appear  in  the  first  two 
poems  mentioned ;  these  serve  as  an  introduction  to  this  stage 
in  the  romance,  and  are  devoted  to  rejoicings  at  the  good 
fortune  which  the  lover  now  enjoys.  The  connection  between 
the  two  poems  is  obvious  :  — 

Once,  as  methought  (v.  9-16).  After  great  storms  (v.  1-8). 

"Yet  for  all  that  a  stormy  blast       "After    great    storms    the    calm 
Had  overturned  this  goodly  day ;       returns, 
And  Fortune  seemed  at  the  last    And  pleasanter  it  is  thereby; 
That  to  her  promise  she  said  nay.  Fortune  likewise  that  often  turns, 

Hath  made   me  now  the   most 
happy. 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  83 

But  like  as  one  out  of  despair,  The     Heaven     that    pitied     my 

To  sudden  hope  revived  I;  distress, 

Now  Fortune  sheweth  herself  so  My  just  desire,  and  my  cry  : 

fair,  1  lath  made  my  languor  to  cease, 

That  I  content  me  wondrously."  And  me  also  the  most  happy." 

In  the  former  of  the  two  poems  we  are  further  told  :  — 

••  My  most  desire  my  hand  may  reach, 
My  will  is  alway  at  my  hand; 
Me  need  not  long  for  to  beseech 
Her  that  hath  power  me  to  command. 

What  earthly  thing  more  can  I  crave  ? 
What  would  I  wish  more  at  my  will? 
Nothing  on  earth  more  would  I  have, 
Save  that  I  have,  to  have  it  still." 

/  love,  loved,  introduces  us  suddenly  to  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances in  which  the  lovers  are  placed  :  — 

"  O  !  deadly  yea  !     O  !  grievous  smart ! 
Worse  than  refuse,  unhappy  gain  ! 
In  love  who  ever  play'd  this  part, 
To  love  so  well,  and  live  in  pain. 

Were  ever  hearts  so  well  agreed, 
Since  love  was  love,  as  I  do  trow, 
That  in  their  love  so  evil  did  speed, 
To  love  so  well,  and  live  in  woe." 

The  last  stanza  of  the  poem  hints  at  reasons  why  the  course 
of  this  true  love  runs  so  roughly  ;  we  shall  find  similar  allusions 
in  other  poems  to  certain  individuals,  "  that  causers  be  of  this." 
and  who  have  it  in  their  power  to  interrupt  the  happiness  of  the 
pair,  and  apparently  to  bring  them  into  peril. 

The  heart  and  service.  In  this  poem  the  tone  is  somewhat 
changed.  One  might  think  the  lady  had  become  coquettish. 
as  the  lover  seems  protesting  to  a  degree.  Still,  he  declares 
hopefully  :  — 

"  Do  which  you  list,  I  shall  not  want 
To  be  your  servant  secretly? 


84  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

b.   Anomalous  Forms. 


N. 


Such  hap  as  I 171         73 

To  seek  each  where 152         56 

Such  hap  as  /depicts  the  lover  in  the  same  predicament  as 
before  described.     In  the  third  stanza  the  lover  laments, — 

"  For  though  I  have,  such  is  my  lot, 
In  hand  to  help  that  I  require, 
It  helpeth  not." 

This  seems  like  a  recollection  of 

"  My  most  desire  my  hand  may  reach, 
My  will  is  alway  at  my  hand." 

N.  22,  13;  A.  31,  13. 
In 

"  To  ask  and  have,  and  yet  therefore 
Refrain  I  must," 

the  lover  expresses  plainly  the  hard  circumstances  of  his  case ; 
in  subsequent  poems  the  declaration  is  justified. 

The  form  of  this  poem  is  quite  peculiar ;  the  rhyme-order, 
a  b  a  b  c  b  c,  might  be  considered  almost  as  an  attempt  to 
introduce  a  terzine  stanza.  The  lines  are  octosyllabic,  with  the 
exception  of  the  last  verse,  which  is  four-syllable ;  this  con- 
cluding half-verse  becomes  in  each  case  the  introductory  half- 
verse  of  the  following  stanza. 

To  seek  each  where  was  probably  written  about  the  same  time 
as  The  heart  and  service  (N.  214  ;  A.  104).  It  was  evidently  a 
New  Year's  greeting  from  the  lover  to  his  lady.  The  poem  has 
the  rhyme-order,  a  a  b  a  b  b;  all  except  the  closing  couple-t  is 
in  octosyllabic  verse ;  these  last  two  verses  are  decasyllables. 

c.    Single-rhyme  Stanza. 


N. 


Take  heed  by  time 208        99 

Sometime  I  sigh 223       112 

[I  am  as  I  am 262       147] 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  85 

Take  heed  by  time  is  a  merry  warning  to  his  lady,  lest  she  on 
her  side  betray  the  affection  which  they  wish  to  conceal. 

"  If  they  might  take  you  in  that  trap, 
They  would  soon  leave  it  in  your  lap; 
To  love  unspied  is  but  a  hap; 
Therefore,  take  heed  !  " 

The  form  of  this  poem  corresponds  exactly  to  that  of  What 
meaneth  this!    (X.  215;  A.  105.)     Sometime  I  sigh  continues 

to  express  the  sentiment  appropriate  to  this  period.  Still,  the 
piece  denotes  some  progress  towards  a  time  of  uncertainty  and 
doubt  regarding  the  lady's  attitude  in  the  affair.  There  is  a 
suggestiveness  of  The  heart  and  service  about  the  poem. 

The  heart  and  service  Sometime  I  sigh  (v.  1 7-20). 

(N.  214;  A.  104). 
"The  heart  and  service  to  you      "All  my  poor  heart,  and  my  love 
proffered  true, 

With  rightgood  will  full  honestly,     While  life  doth  last,  I  give  it  you; 
Refuse  it  not  since  it  is  offered,      And  you  to  serve  with  service 

due, 
But  take  it  to  you  gentlely.  And   never   to  change  you  for 

no  new. 

(v.  17-20.)  (v.  13-16.) 

Pain  or  pleasure  now  may  you  When  ye  be  merry  why  should 

plant,  I  care  ? 

Even  which  it  please  you  stead-  Ye  are  my  joy  and  my  welfare, 

fastly  ;  I  will  you  love,  I  will  not  spare 

Do  which  you  list,  I  shall  not  Into  your  presence,  as  far  as  I 

want  dare." 
To  be  your  servant  secretly." 

This  poem  is  one  of  those  before  alluded  to  cast  in  the  pe- 
culiar style  of  Process  of  Time  (N.  185  ;  A.  86).  The  verses 
should  be  scanned  in  accordance  with  the  principle  mentioned 
in  a  paragraph  introductory  to  this  section  of  our  work,  e.  g.  : 


S6  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

"  Sdmetime  I  sigh,  sometime  I  sing ; 

Sometime  I  laugh,  sometime  mourning 

As  one  in  doiibt,  this  is  my  saying 

Have  F  displeased  you  in  any  thing?  " 

/  am  as  I  am  is  of  precisely  similar  character.  There  is  so 
little  in  this  poem  significant  for  our  purpose  that  we  are  doubt- 
ful where  it  really  should  be  placed.  It  suggests  somewhat  the 
sonnets,  Ccesar,  when  that  the  traitor  of  Egypt  (N.  6  ;  T.  3  7  ; 
A.  6),  and  Each  man  tells  me  (N.  7;  T.  37;  A.  7).  This 
composition  is,  however,  so  superior  to  the  two  sonnets  in  its  easy 
fluency  compared  with  the  laborious  awkwardness  of  their  style, 
as  to  suggest  strongly  its  belonging  to  a  later  date.  On  account 
of  its  exact  correspondence  in  form  to  the  poem  just  examined, 
and  because  of  the  fact  that  it  contains  nothing  contrary  to  the 
general  sentiment  of  the  group,  the  poem  is  inserted  here. 

d.  Ottava   Rima. 

N.  T.  A. 

The  fruit  of  all 236  —  124 

Of  purpose  Love 64  80  164 

Alas!  Madam 66  41  167 

The  wand'ring  gadling    ....  6/  41  167 

What  needeth  these 67  42  168 

She  sat  and  sewed 69  52  170 

Who  hath  heard 69  52  170 

Nature  that  gave 70  65  172 

All  in  thy  look 71  66  172 

Th'  en'my  of  life 67  63  168 

This  collection  of  epigrams  has  been  here  introduced  as  very 
probably  of  this  period.  The  first  and  last  named  of  the  series 
may  safely  be  assigned  to  it ;  but  the  others  are  of  such  a  nature 
that  it  is  impossible  to  speak  with  certainty  about  them.  If  not 
here,  they  belong  to  a  quite  later  period ;  but  the  probability  is 
that  they  find  their  proper  place  within  this  group. 

The  fruit  of  all  is  certainly  a  production  of  the  date  repre- 
sented in  Such  hap  as  /(N.  171  ;  A.  73). 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


The  fruit  of all (v.  i.  2)  Such  hap  as  I  (v.  34.  35). 

••  The  fruit  of  all  the  service  that  "  With  hapless  hand  no  man  hath 
I  serve  raught 

Despair  doth  reap;  such  hapless  Such  hap  as  I." 

hap  have  I. 

(v.  3,  4.)  (v.  17,18.) 

But  though  he  have  no  power  to        And  still  of  cold  I  me  bewail. 

make  me  swerve. 
Yet  by  the  fire  for  cold  I  feel  I       And  raked  am  in  burning  fire. 

die. 

(v.  5,  6.)  (v.  11,12.) 

In  paradise   for  hunger  still  I       That  know  I  not,  unless  I  sterve, 

sterve, 
And  in  the  flood  for  thirst  to       For   hunger  still   amiddes  my 
death  I  dry  ;  food. 

(v.  7,8.)  (v.  19-21.) 

So  Tantalus  am  I,  and  in  worse  For  though  I  have,  such  is  my 

pain,  lot, 

Amidst   my  help  that  helpless  In  hand  to  help  that  I  require, 

doth  remain."  It  helpeth  not." 

Of  purpose  Love  is  a  pretty,  affectionate  conceit,  easily  ima- 
gined to  be  a  product  of  this  time. 

The  wandering  gadling  introduces  perhaps  the  figure  of  a 
rival  to  our  notice. 

Alas !  Madam  and  What  needeth  these  are  translations  from 
the  Italian  of  Serafino  ;  the  originals,  Incolpa,  Donna,  amor  se 
troppo  io  volsi  and  A  che  minacci !  a  che  tanta  ira  c  orgoglio  I 
are  given  entire  by  Nott  (p.  555). 

She  sat  and  sewed  and  Who  hath  heard  refer  to  one  event ; 
they  may  be  humorous,  satirical  complaints  of  the  coquetry  of 
his  lady-love,  or,  together  with  the  two  just  preceding,  may  be 
the  light  and  fanciful  productions  of  a  later  day. 

Nature  that  gave  is  inserted  in  this  group  with  more  confi- 
dence than  in  any  other. 


88         *  SIR     THOMAS   WYATT 

All  hi  thy  look  might  possibly  be  assigned  to  an  earlier  date  ; 
but  it  is  allowed  to  remain  with  the  rest. 

TIi  etCmy  of  life.  For  the  suggestion  of  this  poem  we  have 
to  look  to  the  days  of  Chaucer  and  his  imitators ;  and  once 
more  we  find  the  motive  in  a  passage  of  the  "  Romaunt  of  the 
Rose."  With  verse  17 15  of  that  work  the  translator  introduces 
the  episode  of  the  attempt  to  seize  the  rose  in  the  garden.  The 
lover  approaches  to  grasp  the  bud  whose  beauty  has  aroused 
his  desire,  but  Love  stands  ready  with  his  shafts,  and  shoots 
first  one,  and  then  another,  and  another ;  all  his  arrows  tak- 
ing effect  upon  the  trespasser.  In  verse  1878  and  following, 
the  poet  describes  how  Love  at  last  takes  an  arrow,  Faire- 
semblawit,  the  head  of  which  was  anointed  with  a  precious 
ointment :  — 

(v.  1890.)  "  Somdelle  to  yeve  a-Ieggement 

Upon  the  woundes  that  he  hadde 
Thurgh  the  body  in  my  herte  made, 
To  helpe  her  sores,  and  to  cure, 
And  that  they  may  the  bette  endure. 
But  yit  this  arwe,  withoute  more, 
Made  in  myn  herte  a  large  sore 
That  in  fulle  grete  peyne  I  abode. 
But  ay  the  oynement  wente  abrode ; 
Thourgh-oute  my  woundes  large  and  wide, 
It  spredde  aboute  in  every  side ; 
Thorough  whos  vertu  and  whos  myght 
Myn  herte  joyfulle  was  and  light." 

This,  I  take  it,  suggested  the  idea  of  the  epigram.  But  we 
must  still  supply  an  interpretation  of  it.  Who  is  the  "  enemy  " 
referred  to?  It  cannot  be  Love,  for  Love  does  not  wither 
away  the  green  with  his  cold ;  moreover,  Love  is  mentioned  in 
the  closing  lines  as  quite  distinct  from  the  enemy  who  has  shot 
this  arrow  at  the  lover.  The  early  editor  interprets  the  enemy 
to  be  Deadly  Sickness ;  perhaps  this  explanation  is  allowable, 
but  it  is  not  very  suggestive.     How  deadly  sickness  can  aggra- 


i.xn  ms  poems. 


89 


vate  a  wound  of  this  kind  is  not  clear.  I  would  suggest  that  the 
enemy  is  Jealousy.  He  certainly  deserves  the  had  character 
given  him  in  the  first  two  lines  ;  he  might,  very  plausibly  too, 
suggest  to  the  lover  his  ability  to  rid  him  of  his  smart ;  and  the 
issue  of  this  course  of  treatment,  increasing  rather  than  lessen- 
ing the  lover's  affection  and  his  pain,  is  certainly  a  possible  and 
a  poetical  result.  Whichever  interpretation  is  to  be  preferred, 
the  poem  falls  most  naturally  in  this  group. 

This  brings  us  to  the  end  of  our  second  period  ;  it  may  be 
called,  perhaps,  the  period  of  Prosperity  or  Attainment.  From 
this  point  the  lover's  star  begins  to  descend. 


9o 


SIX    THOMAS   IVY  ATT 


< 

in 

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z 

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c*5    vC 

t>.   in 

1  1 

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3     O 

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Take  heed  by  time   .     .     .     208        —          99 
Sometime  I  sigh  ....     223         —         112 
[I  am  as  I  am 262        —        147] 

«i 

H 

< 

< 
> 

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H 
H 

o 

■t     't     N     SCO      0      0      N      N     DO 

1         OM-MMNiriOfO 

1     00     •^-•^Tfminooo 

\D     tJ-O     l^»    t^    O    O    O     f      f^ 

to  \o   vO   ^)   ^   ^o    ^    r^c^o 

The  fruit  of  all    . 
Of  purpose  Love 
Alas!   Madam      . 
The  wand'ring     . 
What  needeth 
She  sat  and  sewed 
Who  hath  heard  . 
Nature  that  gave 
All  in  thy  look 
Th'  en'my  of  life 

H 

< 

z 

< 

in 

Once,  as  methought      .     .       21         63           30 
After  great  storms     .     .     .     156        —          60 

I  love,  loved 211        —        102 

The  heart  and  service  .     .214        —        104 

AXD  HIS  POEMS. 


91 


Group  III. 

Introductory  to  the  poems  of  this  general  group  we  find  a 
few  in  which  the  lover  seems  attempting  to  clear  himself  of  cer- 
tain accusations  brought  against  him  by  his  mistress.  He  pro- 
tests his  loyalty  to  her,  and  denies  the  truth  of  the  charges. 
We  have  eight  poems  treating  of  this  theme. 

a.  Anomalous  Forms* 

N.  T.  A. 

The  knot  which 224  —  113 

It  was  my  choice 226  —  114 

Accused  though  I  be 75  55  177 

Perdie  I  said  it  not 40  66  48 

Ye  know  my  heart 237  —  125 

The  knot  which  :  a  b  a  b  a  b  a. 

"The  knot  which  first  my  heart  did  strain, 
When  that  your  servant  I  became, 
Doth  bind  me  still  for  to  remain, 
Always  your  own  as  now  I  am. 

If  in  my  love  there  be  one  spot 
Of  false  deceit  or  doubleness  ; 
Or  if  I  mind  to  slip  this  knot 
By  want  of  faith  or  steadfastness 
Let  all  my  service  be  forgot, 
And  when  I  would  have  chief  redress, 
Esteem  me  not." 


//  ivas  my  choice :  a  b  a  b  c  b  c. 

In  this  poem  no  allusion  is  made  to  any  accusations,  but  the 
poet  speaks  as  if  some  cloud  had  settled  on  their  intercourse. 
By  right  his  heart  should  be  accepted,  for  it  was  a  free-will  offer- 
ing. But  the  lover  fears  \X\z\.  fortune,  ox  fancy,  will  prove  more 
powerful  than  truth,  —  here  used  as  a  synonym  for  right     He 


92  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

is  in  a  quandary,  uncertain  to  which  of  the  three  he  shall  ap- 
peal;  at  last  he  decides  to  trust  to  right;  for  right  never 
changes,  while  chance  and  fancy  are  fickle  and  unstable. 

"  To  Fantasy  pertains  to  choose. 
All  this  I  know :  for  Fantasy 
First  unto  love  did  me  induce  ; 
But  yet  I  know  as  steadfastly, 
That  if  love  have  no  faster  knot, 
So  nice  a  choice  slips  suddenly. 
It  lasteth  not." 

Accused  though  I  be :  abababababcc. 

Here  the  lover  speaks  more  plainly  of  the  cause  of  his  lady's 
coolness  :  "  ill  tongues  "  have  been  attacking  him. 

"  None  is  alive  that  can  ill  tongues  eschew ; 
Hold  them  as  false ;  and  let  not  us  depart 
Our  friendship  old  in  hope  of  any  new." 

Per  die  I  said  it  not :   ababacac. 

The  protestation  is  continued.  Here  the  alleged  offence  is 
materialized  into  the  use  of  some  expression,  or  the  utterance 
of  certain  words  falsely  charged  upon  the  lover.  He  denies 
the  slander,  and  invokes  all  kinds  of  misfortune  on  himself  if  he 
speaks  falsely. 

"Perdie  I  said  it  not; 
Nor  never  thought  to  do: 
As  well  as  I,  ye  wot, 
I  have  no  power  thereto. 
And  if  I  did,  the  lot, 
That  first  did  me  enchain, 
May  never  slake  the  knot, 
But  straight  it  to  my  pain  !  " 

In  the  fifth  stanza  he  hints  that  possibly  the  lady  has  an 
object  in  her  obstinate  refusal  to  credit  his  assurances,  and 
queries  whether  or  no  this  thing  be  sought  to  give  him  pain. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  93 

"  If  I  be  clear  from  thought, 
Why  do  you  then  complain  ? 
Then  is  this  thing  but  sought 
To  turn  my  heart  to  pain.*' 

The  poem  closes  with  an  allusion  too  dark  to  be  explained  by 
us.  Evidently  there  is  another  lady  in  the  case,  of  whom  the 
'•  Rachel,"  his  true  mistress,  is,  or  has  pretended  to  be,  jealous. 
Who  "Leah"  was,  we  do  not  know;  nor  does  "Rachel,"  in 
this  poem  at  least,  reveal  more  of  her  identity. 

Ye  know  my  heart:  ababbcadedecc. 

"  Ye  know  my  heart,  my  Lady  dear  ! 
That  since  the  time  I  was  your  thrall 
I  have  been  yours  both  whole  and  clear, 
Though  my  reward  hath  been  but  small ; 
So  am  I  yet,  and  more  than  all. 

Ye  know  also,  though  ye  say  nay, 
That  you  alone  are  my  desire ; 
And  you  alone  it  is  that  may 
Assuage  my  fervent  flaming  fire. 

And  I  know  well  how  scornfully 
Ye  have  mistaken  my  true  intent; 
And  hitherto  how  wrongfully, 
I  have  found  cause  for  to  repent. 
But  if  your  heart  cloth  not  relent, 
Since  I  do  know  that  this  ye  know, 
Ye  shall  slay  me  all  wilfully. 

Why  are  ye  then  so  cruel  foe 

Unto  your  own,  that  loves  you  so  ? " 

b.    a  b  a  b  Stanza. 

N.  T.  A. 

Disdain  me  not 35         58         43 

If  Fancy  would 161         —        65 

I  have  sought  long 172        —        74 


94  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

Disdain  me  not  repeats  the  ideas  already  met. 

"  Refuse  me  not  without  cause  why, 
Nor  think  me  not  to  be  unjust; 
Since  that  by  lot  of  fantasy, 
This  careful  knot  needs  knit  I  must. 

Mistrust  me  not,  though  some  there  be 
That  fain  would  spot  my  steadfastness  : 
Believe  them  not,  since  that  ye  see 
The  proof  is  not,  as  they  express." 

If  Fancy  would  suggests  the  thought  in  //  was  my  choice 
(N.  226  ;  A.  114). 

If  Fancy  would  (v.  9-18).  //  was  my  choice  (v.  19-30). 

"  Fancy  doth  know  how  "  Yet  some  would  say  assuredly 

To  further  my  true  heart ;  Thou  mayst  appeal  for  thy  release 

If  Fancy  might  avow  To  Fantasy. 

With  Faith  to  take  part.  To  Fantasy  pertains  to  choose. 

All  this  I  know :  for  Fantasy 
But  Fancy  is  so  frail  First  unto  love  did  me  induce ; 

And  flitting  still  so  fast,  But  yet  I  know  as  steadfastly, 

That  Faith  may  not  prevail         That  if  love  have  no  faster  knot, 
To  help  me,  first  nor  last.  So  nice  a  choice  slips  suddenly  ; 

It  lasteth  not. 
For  Fancy  at  his  lust,  It  lasteth   not,  that  stands   by 

Doth  rule  all  but  by  guess."  change ; 

Fancy  doth  change  ;  Fortune  is 
frail." 

I  have  sought  long  brings  us  to  a  turning-point  in  the  lover's 
experience.  His  theme  is  still  the  changeableness  of  the  lady's 
fancy ;  she  has  no  better  reason  for  her  conduct  than  the  man 
in  the  proverb:  "I  reck  not  how."  But  the  lover's  tone  has 
changed. 

"  Therefore  I  played  the  fool  in  vain, 
With  pity  when  I  first  began 
Your  cruel  heart  for  to  constrain, 
Since  love  regardeth  no  doubtful  man. 
But  of  your  goodness,  all  your  mind 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  95 

Is  that  I  should  complain  in  vain; 
This  is  the  favour  that  I  find; 
Ye  list  to  hear  how  I  can  plain  ! 

But  tho'  I  plain  to  please  your  heart, 
Trust  me  I  trust  to  temper  it  so, 
Not  for  to  care  which  do  revert ; 
All  shall  be  one,  or  wealth,  or  woe. 

For  Fancy  ruleth,  though  Right  say  nay, 
Even  as  the  good  man  kist  his  cow  : 
None  other  reason  can  ye  lay, 
But  as  who  sayeth  :  '  I  reck  not  how.'  " 

The  poems  just  examined  have  introduced  us  to  the  spirit 
and  sentiment  of  this  period ;  we  now  take  up  the  remaining 
works  in  turn. 

c.    Sonnets. 

N.  T.  A. 

I  abide  and  abide 144  —  20 

Though  I  myself 145  —  2I 

How  oft  have  I 13  69  14 

Was  I  never  yet 2  33  2 

/  abide  and  abide.  In  this  sonnet  Wyatt  returns  to  the 
peculiar  style  of  versification  found  in  Sometime  I  sigh  ;  I  am 
as  I  am,  and  a  few  more  of  the  kind  already  examined  by  us. 
The  lover  becomes  impatient  at  his  lady's  coldness  ;  she  coquets 
with  his  devotion,  and  promises  without  regard  to  fulfilment. 

"  Much  were  it  better  for  to  be  plain, 
Than  to  say,  '  Abide,'  and  yet  not  obtain." 

Though  I  myself.  The  lady  has  expressed  a  fear  lest  she  be 
compelled,  against  her  will,  to  break  the  promise  given  to  her 
lover.  The  latter  chides  her  for  her  insincerity,  pointing  out 
the  fact  that  all  depends  upon  her  own  free  choice ;  there  is  no 
power  can  make  her  change  except  she  give  her  consent.  He 
says  :  "  I  am  compelled  by  force  of  circumstances  to  remain  in- 
active under  close  restraint;  everything  depends  upon  yourself. 
If  you  seek  worldly  honor,  who  can  compel  you  to  abide  by  the 


g6  S/J?    THOMAS    WYATT 

promise  made  to  me?  Do  not  complain,  however;  nobody 
will  force  you  against  your  will.  But  I  suspect  that  in  spite  of 
your  pretended  fear,  you  are  perhaps  too  ready  to  listen  to  the 
suit  you  seem  to  dread.  If  really  honest,  let  your  defence  be 
in  time,  truth,  and  love ;  i.  e.,  continue  loving  and  true  to  me  : 
time  will  make  all  good."  Nott  says  of  this  difficult  poem  that 
it  "  is  designedly  obscure,  and  probably  was  never  corrected.  It 
might  have  been  a  fine  composition.  It  alludes  probably  to 
Wyatt's  unfortunate  passion  for  Anne  Boleyn,  and  intimates  that 
if  she  preferred,  as  she  ought  to  do,  honor  to  ambition,  she  was 
still  free  to  refuse  the  magnificent  proposals  which  the  king 
had  then  laid  before  her."  1  It  seems  to  me  that  Nott  mis- 
interprets the  meaning  of  the  third  verse ;  his  explanation 
contains  a  contradiction.  If  the  lover  means,  as  Dr.  Nott 
interprets,  "  provided  you  prefer  honor  to  ambition,"  he  would 
not  ask  "  who  may  hold  thee  to  thy  promise  ?  "  But  if  he  uses 
honor  in  the  sense  of  rank,  title,  position,  there  is  manifest  ap- 
propriateness in  the  question.  Dr.  Nott  would  read  verses  4,  5, 
6,  7,  differently ;  verse  7  thus,  — 

"  Though  other  present  be,  I  am  not  all  behind." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  justify  the  change.  It  seems  to  me  that 
the  line  is  particularly  keen  and  forceful  as  it  stands  ;  it  reminds 
us  of  verse  78,  in  the  Third  Satire  :  "  Be  next  thyself  ..." 
and  means,  I  think,  "  You  claim  to  be  compelled  by  another : 
I  fear  you  are  not  altogether  opposed  to  the  idea  yourself." 
The  sonnet  is  indeed  obscure  ;  perhaps  we  are  farther  than  ever 
from  the  right  interpretation.  But  enough  is  clear  to  show  that 
the  sonnet  was  not  written  without  a  purpose.  It  is  not  such  a 
composition  as  comes  from  the  pen  of  a  mere  producer  of 
society  verse.  In  spite  of  the  obscurity,  intensity  and  directness 
characterize  it ;  and  the  poem  expresses  a  feeling  as  real  as  its 
utterance  is  emphatic.  It  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
companion  pieces. 

1  Notes,  p.  572. 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


97 


How  oft  have  /contains  a  sentence  of  considerable  import  in 
verses  3,  4  :  — 

".     .     .     but  you  do  not  use 
Among  so  high  things,  to  cast  your  mind  so  low." 

The  original,  found,  as  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  among  the 
sonnets  of  the  Italian  poet,  reads  thus  :  — 

".     .    .    APavoi  tion  piace 

Mirar  si  basso  con  la  mente  altera.'1'' 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  slight  change  in  the  rendering  intro- 
duces quite  a  new  thought  in  the  translation.  This  must  have 
been  intended  by  the  poet,  and  the  allusion  is  evidently  to  the 
position  or  the  prospects  of  the  lady  thus  addressed. 

Was  I  ?iever  yet  is  also  a  translation  of  one  of  Petrarch's 
sonnets  :  Io  non  fit'  if  a  mar  voi  lassato  unquanco.  This  sonnet 
is  very  similar  in  style  to  the  earlier  productions  of  the  poet, 
but  because  of  its  agreement  with  the  prevailing  sentiment  of 
this  period  it  has  been  added  to  the  group. 

d.    Rhyme-royal  Stanza. 


N.  T.  A. 


It  may  be  good 28  42  37 

That  time  that  mirth 220  —  109 

Though  this  the  port 157  —  61 

O  miserable  sorrow 236  —  124 

The  joy  so  short 242  —  129 

//  may  be  good.  The  lover  is  dissatisfied  ;  his  lady  has  given 
many  assurances,  but  he  mistrusts  her  sincerity.  He  hopes,  and 
yet  he  dares  not  hope. 

The  meaning  of  the  word  hase  in  verse  10  is  a  riddle; 
perhaps  it  was  coined  as  an  abbreviation  for  hazard,  which 
would  not  be  inappropriate  to  the  sense. 

That  time  that  mirth  alludes  to  the  happy  days,  now  past, 
in  which  he  felt  secure  in  his  lady's  love.  She  has  now  become 
his  "  extreme  enemy  ;  "  but,  — 

7 


93  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

"  It  is  not  time  that  can  wear  out 
With  me,  that  once  is  firmly  set; 
While  Nature  keeps  her  course  about, 
My  love  from  her  no  man  can  let. 
Though  never  so  sore  they  me  threat, 
Yet  am  I  hers,  she  may  be  sure  ; 
And  shall  be  while  that  life  doth  dure." 

Verse  5  of  the  stanza  quoted  is  quite  significant. 
The  three  remaining  poems  in  this  set  will  be  referred  to 
shortly. 

e.  Anomalous  Forms  {Second  Set). 

N.  T.  A. 

Though  I  cannot 184  —  85 

If  with  complaint 237  —  125 

The  answer  that 38  62  46 

Give  place  !  all  ye 247  —  133 

If  chance  assigned 175  —  77 

What  death  is          180  —  81 

Since  Love  will  needs 43  77  51 

I  see  that  chance 46  81  53 

Though  I  cannot :  a  a  b  b  a. 

"  But  I  see  well,  that  your  high  disdain 
Will  no  wise  grant  that  I  shall  more  attain ; 
Yet  ye  must  grant  at  the  last 
This  my  poor,  and  small  request ; 
Rejoice  not  at  my  pain  !  " 

If  with  complaint :  a  b  a  a  b  b. 

"  But  since  it  is  so  far  out  of  measure, 
That  with  my  words  I  can  it  not  contain, 
My  only  trust !  my  heart's  treasure  ! 
Alas  !  why  do  I  still  endure 
This  restless  smart  and  pain  ? 
Since  if  ye  list  ye  may  my  woe  restrain." 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  99 

The  answer  that :  a  1)  a  b  b. 

"  I  have  no  wrong,  where  I  can  claim  no  right, 
Nought  ta'en  me  fro,  where  I  nothing  have  had  : 
Yet  of  my  woe,  I  cannot  so  be  quite. 
Namely,  Since  that  another  may  be  glad 
With  that,  that  thus  in  sorrow  makes  me  sad. 
Yet  none  can  claim,  I  say,  by  former  grant, 
That  knoweth  not  of  any  grant  at  all ; 
And  by  desert,  I  dare  well  make  avaunt 
Of  faithful  will ;  there  is  nowhere  that  shall 
Bear  you  more  truth,  more  ready  at  your  call." 

Give  place  !  all  ye :  a  b  a  b  b  b.     This  piece  is  somewhat 
suggestive  of  I  abide  and  abide  (N.  144  ;  A.  20). 

"  With  humble  suit  I  have  essayed 
To  turn  her  cruel  hearted  mind  ; 
But  for  reward  I  am  delayed, 
And  to  my  wealth  her  eyes  be  blind. 
Lo  !  thus  by  chance  I  am  assigned 
With  steadfast  love  to  serve  the  unkind. 


For  love  to  find  such  cruelty, 
Alas  !  it  is  a  careful  lot ; 
And  for  to  void  such  mockery 
There  is  no  way  but  slip  the  knot ! 
The  gain  so  cold,  the  pain  so  hot ! 
Praise  it  who  list,  I  like  it  not." 

If  chance  assigned :  a  a  a  b  c  c  b.  An  appeal  for  freedom. 
The  thought  expressed  in  other  poems  of  this  group  is  repeated 
here ;  although  he  dares  not  hope  for  favor,  the  lover  remains, 
nevertheless,  bound  to  her,  —  he  cannot  subdue  his  affection. 
Now  he  beseeches  that  she  will  give  him  back  his  freedom,  or 
else  complete  his  destruction.  This  fanciful  composition  may 
have  been  suggested  by  the  early  poem,  Like  as  the  bird  (X. 
47;  A.  54). 


I00  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

What  death  is  worse :  a  b  a  b  b  a.     The  interpretation  of 
this  poem  will  be  considered  later. 

Since  Love  will  needs :  a  b  a  b  c  c. 

"  Though  for  good-will  I  find  but  hate, 
And  cruelly  my  life  to  waste, 
And  though  that  still  a  wretched  state 
Should  pine  my  days  unto  the  last, 
Yet  I  profess  it  willingly 
To  serve  and  suffer  patiently. 

Yea  !  though  Fortune  her  pleasant  face 
Should  shew,  to  set  me  up  aloft ; 
And  straight  my  wealth  for  to  deface, 
Should  writhe  away,  as  she  doth  oft ; 
Yet  would  I  still  myself  apply 
To  serve  and  suffer  patiently." 

/  see  that  chance :  a  b  a  b  c  c. 

"  I  see  that  chance  hath  chosen  me 
Thus  secretly  to  live  in  pain, 
And  to  another  given  the  fee, 
Of  all  my  loss  to  have  the  gain  : 
By  chance  assigned  thus  do  I  serve, 
And  other  have  that  I  deserve. 

To  seek  by  mean  to  change  this  mind, 
Alas  !  I  prove,  it  will  not  be  ; 
For  in  my  heart  I  cannot  find 
Once  to  refrain,  but  still  agree, 
As  bound  by  force,  alway  to  serve, 
And  other  have  that  I  deserve." 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  note  the  close  agreement  of  these 
two  poems,  in  sentiment  as  in  form  •  they  belong  undoubtedly 
to  a  common  date,  and  are  assigned  with  manifest  propriety 
to  this  third  group. 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  I0I 

f.    a  b  a  b  Stanza  (Second  Set). 

N.  A. 

"Alas!  poor  man 217       107 

"Alas  !  poor  man,  what  hap  have  I, 
Thai  must  forbear  that  I  love  best  / 
I  trow,  it  be  my  destiny, 
Never  to  live  in  quiet  rest. 

Alas  !  poor  heart,  as  in  this  case 
With  pensive  plaint  thou  art  opprest ; 
Unwise  thou  were  to  desire  place 
Whereas  another  is  possest. 

She  that  I  serve  all  other  above 
Hath  paid  my  hire,  as  ye  may  see  ; 
I  was  unhappy,  and  that  I  prove, 
To  love  above  my  poor  degree." 

Wyatt's  position  was  not  a  base  one,  nor  was  his  family  of 
inferior  rank ;  indeed,  there  were  not  many  nobles  at  Henry's 
Court  better  situated  in  this  respect  than  he.  This  is  especially 
true  in  reference  to  the  ladies  gathered  there ;  and  of  those 
to  whom  Wyatt's  address  would  be  most  likely  paid,  there  was 
no  one  to  whom  the  words  here  quoted  would  apply  with 
greater  appropriateness  than  to  one  exalted  not  so  much  by 
reason  of  her  own  connection  as  by  the  rank  of  that  person 
who  had  displaced  the  poet  in  her  affections. 

g.   Single-Rhyme  Stanza. 

N.  A. 

Forget  not  yet 235       123 

And  wilt  thou- 219       10S 

As  power  and  wit 221       11 1 

Forget  not  yet. 

"  Forget  not !  oh  !  forget  not  this, 
How  lone:  afro  hath  been,  and  is 


102  SIX    THOMAS    WYATT 

The  mind  that  never  meant  amiss, 

Forget  not  yet ! 
Forget  not  then  thine  own  approved, 
The  which  so  long  hath  thee  so  loved, 
Whose  steadfast  faith  yet  never  moved  : 

Forget  not  this  !  " 

A?id  wilt  thou  leave. 

"  And  wilt  thou  leave  me  thus, 
That  hath  loved  thee  so  long, 
In  wealth  and  woe  among  ? 
And  is  thy  heart  so  strong 
As  for  to  leave  me  thus  ? 
Say  nay  !  say  nay  ! 

And  wilt  thou  leave  me  thus, 
And  have  no  more  pity, 
Of  him  that  loveth  thee  ? 
Alas  !  thy  cruelty  ! 
And  wilt  thou  leave  me  thus  ? 


As  power  and  wit. 

"  When  all  the  flock  is  come  and  gone 
Mine  eye  and  heart  agreeth  in  one, 
Hath  chosen  you,  only,  alone, 
To  be  my  joy,  or  else  my  moan, 

Even  as  ye  list. 
Joy,  if  pity  appear  in  place  ; 
Moan,  if  disdain  do  shew  his  face, 
Yet  crave  I  not  as  in  this  case, 
But  as  ye  lead  to  follow  the  trace, 

Even  as  ye  list. 

Dear  heart !  I  bid  your  heart  farewell, 
With  better  heart  than  tongue  can  tell ; 
Yet  take  this  tale,  as  true  as  gospel, 
Ye  may  my  life  save  or  expel 
Even  as  ye  list." 


AXD   HIS  POEMS. 


103 


Similarity  in  thought,  as  in  expression,  characterizes  these 
three  poems,  and  hinds  them  to  this  group.  The  general  sen- 
timent is  this  :  The  lover  has  served  long  and  faithfully  without 
reward  j  but  his  affection  does  not  falter,  he  is  content  to  serve 
even  as  his  lady  lists. 

h.  Rondeaux. 

Wyatt  now  turns  to  the  rondeau,  —  a  form  borrowed  by  him 
from  the  French,  as  previously  he  had  borrowed  the  sonnet 
from  the  Italian  poets.  As  belonging  distinctively  to  this 
period  we  designate  :  — 

N.  T.  A. 

Behold,  Love! 18  53  22 

Go!  burning  sighs 19  73  24 

Help  me  to  seek  ! 147  —  24 

For  to  love  her 148  —  25 

If  it  be  so 150  —  27 

Behold,  Love !  In  this,  as  in  the  poem  which  follows,  Go  ! 
burning  sighs,  and  in  What  'vaileth  truth,  to  be  discussed  here- 
after, we  must  follow  the  Harington  MS.  text,  which  certainly 
preserves  the  original  form  in  which  these  three  poems  appeared. 
Their  hybrid  dress,  —  half  sonnet,  half  rondeau,  —  in  the  ver- 
sion given  by  Tottel,  is  not  easy  of  explanation.  It  is,  how- 
ever, entirely  possible  that  the  changed  arrangement  was  the 
poet's  own  later  work.  This  does  not  concern  us  now,  but  it 
is  important  that  we  should  recognize  the  form  in  which  the 
poems  were  originally  composed. 

The  poem  before  us  declares,  — 

"  The  holy  oath  whereof  she  takes  no  cure, 
Broken  she  hath." 

Furthermore,  the  lover  says,  "I  am  in  hold,"  —  which  reminds 
us  of  the  sonnet,  Though  I  nix  self  be  bridled  of  my  mind 
(N.  145;  A.  21). 

Go  /  burning  sighs,  is  arw  imitation,  rather  than  a  transla- 
tion,  of   Petrarch's    sonnet,   Ite  caldi  sospiri   al  freddo   core. 


I04  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

In  the  latter  portion  of  the  poem  the  thought  of  the  original  is 
entirely  lost  sight  of,  —  thus  showing  that  Wyatt  has  here  intro- 
duced something  of  his  own  experience :  — 

"  I  must  go  work,  I  see,  by  craft  and  art, 
For  truth  and  faith  in  her  is  laid  apart." 

Help  me  to  seek  has  nothing  of  special  significance  for  us ; 
its  general  resemblance  to  the  other  rondeaux  here  gathered  is 
the  reason  of  its  insertion  in  the  group. 

For  to  love  her  repeats  the  ideas  already  met  with  :  — 

"  But  she  hath  made  another  promess 
And  hath  given  me  leave  full  honestly. 


Methink  it  best  that  readily 
I  do  return  to  my  first  address  ; 
For  at  this  time  too  great  is  the  press, 
A  nd perils  appear  too  abundantly, 
For  to  love  her." 

In  connection  with  the  last  poem  of  this  set,  we  must  ex- 
amine several  others  which  have  been  mentioned  in  their  re- 
spective places,  but  have  not  been  as  yet  discussed.  These 
productions,  together  with  the  rondeau  remaining,  may  be 
looked  upon  as  building  a  conclusion  to  the  general  thought 
of  this  large  group,  just  as  certain  others  united  to  serve  as 
introductory  to  the  whole.     These  poems  are  in  all  five. 

N.  A. 

If  it  be  so       150  27 

Though  this  the  port 157  61 

O  miserable  sorrow 236  124 

The  joy  so  short 242  129 

What  death  is  worse 180  81 

If  it  be  so.  The  motive  of  the  closing  lines  of  this  rondeau 
is  to  be  found  in  Chaucer,  who  makes  use  of  the  image  several 
times. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  105 

In  the  "  Booke  of  the  Dutchesse,"  verse   1151,  he  says: 

"  For  wostou  why  ?  she  was  lady 
Of  the  body ;  she  hadde  the  herte, 
And  who  hath  that  may  not  asterte." 

In  the  "  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,"  too,  we  find,  verse  2084  and 
following :  — 

"  For  of  the  body  he  is  full  lord 
That  hath  the  herte  in  his  tresour." 

In  this  poem  the  lover  refers  to  a  separation,  —  a  separation 
which  he  regards  as  banishment.  His  heart  remains  true,  and 
he  is  so  far  her  devoted  and  obedient  servant  as  to  obey  his 
lady's  will  even  in  departing  from  her  presence,  if  she  list  so  to 
order  him.  At  the  same  time  he  has  reason  to  suspect  that  her 
affection  has  changed ;  but  comforts  himself  with  the  conceit 
that  he  still  holds  her  heart  in  his  possession,  and  therefore  it  is 
impossible  for  her  to  bestow  it  elsewhere. 

Though  this  the  port  (Rhyme-royal  Stanza). 

".       .       .     Behold  yet  how  that  I, 
Banished  fro?n  my  bliss,  carefully  do  cry. 


By  seas  and  hills  elonged  from  my  sight, 
Thy  wonted  grace  reducing  to  my  mind, 
Instead  of  sleep  thus  I  occupy  the  night; 
A  thousand  thoughts,  and  many  doubts  I  find 
And  still  I  trust  thou  canst  not  be  unkind, 
Or  else  despair  my  comfort  and  my  chere 
Would  she  forthwith,  '  En  vogant  la  Galere.' ' 

O  !  miserable  sorrow  (Rhyme-royal  Stanza). 

"  And  this  my  last  voice  carry  thou  thither, 
Where  lived  my  hope,  now  dead  for  ever : 
For  as  ill  grievous  is  my  banishment, 
As  was  my  pleasure  when  she  was  present." 


I05  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

The  joy  so  short  (Rhyme-royal  Stanza). 

"  The  time  doth  pass,  yet  shall  not  my  love  ; 
Though  I  be  far,  always  my  heart  is  near. 
Though  other  change  yet  will  not  I  remove ; 
Though  other  care  not,  yet  love  I  will  and  fear; 
Though  other  hate,  yet  will  I  love  my  dear ; 
Though  other  will  of  lightness  say  '  Adieu,' 
Yet  will  I  be  found  steadfast  and  true." 

What  death  is  worse :  a  b  a  b  b  a. 

"  What  death  is  worse  than  this  ! 
When  my  delight, 
My  weal,  my  joy,  my  bliss, 
Is  from  my  sight. 

Heartless,  alas  !  what  man 

May  long  endure ! 

Alas  !  how  live  I  then  ; 

Since  no  recure 

May  me  assure 

My  life  I  may  well  ban." 

This  set  of  five  poems  evidently  records  a  period  of  absence, 
perhaps  enjoined  upon  the  lover  by  his  lady.  It  would  seem 
as  if  she  sent  him  away  with  promises,  and  gladly  availed  her- 
self of  his  absence  to  further  her  own  designs.  This  episode 
may  be  judged  to  fall  at  the  close  of  the  period  which  we  have 
been  discussing,  and  helps  to  explain  the  sudden  change  which 
now  occurs  in  the  sentiment  of  the  compositions  which  follow. 
Up  to  this  point,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  lover  still  persists  in 
his  hopeless  attachment ;  in  every  piece  the  assurance  of  his 
constancy  has  been  passionately  affirmed :  he  now  suddenly 
casts  off  his  bonds,  and  has  recourse  to  taunts  and  upbraiding. 
We  are  better  prepared  for  the  violent  tone  of  the  poems  which 
follow  if  we  suppose  the  lover  to  have  received  this  new  proof 
of  his  lady's  heartlessness  and  insincerity.  We  here  take  up  a 
fourth  group  of  Wyatt's  productions,  and  leave  what  may  be 
called,  perhaps,  the  period  of  Disappointment  or  Deception. 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 


107 


t     N«     »l 


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108  SIX   THOMAS   WYATT 

Group  IV. 
a.  Sonnets. 

N.  T.  A. 

My  love  to  scorn 10  $$  u 

My  heart  I  gave 15  71  16 

Divers  doth  use 143  —  20 

To  rail  or  jest 145  —  22 

There  was  never  file 2  34  2 

Whoso  list  to  hunt 143  —  19 

Farewell,  Love 17  70  18 

My  love  to  scorn. 

"  But  since  that  thus  ye  list  to  order  me, 
That  would  have  been  your  servant  true  and  fast, 
Displease  thee  not :  my  doting  days  be  past. 
And  with  my  loss  to  leave  I  must  agree. 
For  as  there  is  a  certain  time  to  rage, 
So  is  there  time  such  madness  to  assuage." 

My  heart  I  gave. 

"  But,  since  it  please  thee  to  feign  a  default, 
Farewell,  I  say,  parting  from  the  fire. 
For  he  that  believeth  bearing  in  hand 
Ploweth  in  the  water,  and  sovveth  in  the  sand." 

Divers  doth  use. 

•l  And  some  there  be  that  when  it  chanceth  so 
That  women  change,  and  hate  where  love  hath  been, 
They  call  them  false,  and  think  with  words  to  win 
The  hearts  of  them  which  otherwhere  doth  grow. 
But  as  for  me,  though  that  by  chance  indeed 
Change  hath  outworn  the  favour  that  I  had, 
I  will  not  wail,  lament,  nor  yet  be  sad, 
Nor  call  her  false  that  falsely  did  me  feed  ; 

But  let  it  pass,  and  think  it  is  of  kind 
That  often  change  doth  please  a  woman's  mind." 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  I09 

To  rail  or  jest. 

"  Things  of  great  weight  I  never  thought  to  crave, 
This  is  but  small  ;  of  right  deny  it  not  : 
Your  feigning  ways,  as  yet  forget  them  not. 
But  like  reward  let  other  lovers  have  ; 

That  is  to  say,  for  service  true  and  fast, 
Too  long  delays,  and  changing  at  the  last." 

There  was  never  file. 

"  But  reason  hath  at  my  folly  smiled, 
And  pardoned  me,  since  that  I  me  repent 
Of  my  lost  years,  and  time  misspent. 
For  youth  did  me  lead,  and  falsehood  guided." 

Whoso  list  to  hunt. 

"  Whoso  list  to  hunt  ?     I  know  where  is  an  hind  ! 
But  as  for  me,  alas  !  I  may  no  more, 
The  vain  travail  hath  wearied  me  so  sore  ; 
I  am  of  them  that  furthest  come  behind. 


Who  list  her  hunt,  I  put  him  out  of  doubt 
As  well  as  I,  may  spend  his  time  in  vain  ! 
And  graven  with  diamonds  in  letters  plain, 
There  is  written  her  fair  neck  round  about ; 
'  Noli  me  tangere  ;  for  Casar's  I  am, 
And  wild  for  to  hold,  though  I  seem  tame.' " 

When  read  in  the  light  of  the  other  poems  we  have  been 
examining,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  lady  referred  to 
under  the  image  of  the  "hind"  is  the  lady  whom  the  lover  has 
been  pursuing  all  along.  The  fact  that  she  now  bears  mark  of 
C&sar's  ownership  explains  the  ill-success  of  the  former  suitor, 
and  makes  clear  several  allusions  already  noted.  This  is,  per- 
haps, the  most  convincing  evidence  we  have  regarding  the  iden- 
tity of  the  poet's  mistress. 

Farewell,  Love. 

"  Farewell,  Love,  and  all  thy  laws  for  ever; 
Thy  baited  hooks  shall  tangle  me  no  more  : 


II0  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

Senec,  and  Plato,  call  me  from  thy  lore, 
To  perfect  wealth,  my  wit  for  to  endeavour. 

Therefore,  farewell  !  go  trouble  younger  hearts  ; 

And  in  me  claim  no  more  authority: 

With  idle  youth  go  use  thy  property, 

And  thereon  spend  thy  many  brittle  darts  : 

For,  hitherto  though  I  have  lost  all  my  time, 
Me  lusteth  no  longer  rotten  boughs  to  climb." 

Further  comment  seems  unnecessary ;  the  poems  speak  suf- 
ficiently for  themselves,  and  their  similarity  and   relation  are 

obvious. 

b.  Rondeaux. 

N.  T.  A. 

What  no,  perdie ! 149  —  26 

What 'vaileth  truth 18  53  23 

Thou  hast  no  faith 151  —  28 

Ye  old  mule  ! 148  —  26 

What  no,  perdie  ! 

"  Too  much  it  were  still  to  endure. 
Truth  is  tried,  where  craft  is  in  ure, 
But  though  ye  have  had  my  heartes  cure, 
Trow  ye  I  dote  without  ending  ?  " 

What  *  vaileth  truth. 

"  Soonest  he  speeds  that  most  can  feign ; 
True  meaning  heart  is  had  in  disdain. 
Against  deceit  and  doubleness, 
What  'vaileth  truth  ! 
Deceived  is  he  by  crafty  train, 
That  means  no  guile,  and  doth  remain 
Within  the  trap,  without  redress  : 
But  for  to  love,  lo,  such  a  mistress, 
Whose  cruelty  nothing  can  refrain, 
What  'vaileth  truth  !  " 

Thou  hast  no  faith  contains  a  taunt  based  upon  the  fickle 
character  of  his  former  mistress,  who  is  now  beloved  of  another. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  \  \  \ 

This  other  suitor  he  characterizes  as  treacherous  also,  and  quotes 
the  proverb  of  "like  to  like." 

"  I  thought  thee  true  without  exception; 
But  I  perceive  I  lacked  discretion, 
To  fashion  faith  to  words  mutable. 
Thy  thought  is  too  light  and  variable, 
To  change  so  oft  without  occasion. 
Thou  hast  no  faith  !  " 

Ye  old  mule  is  bitterest  of  all  Wyatt's  pieces ;  reflecting  as  it 
does  upon  the  lady's  sincerity  of  heart,  and  also  applying  to  her 
an  epithet  used  only  of  a  woman  of  degraded  character.  The 
piece  is  expressive  of  the  lover's  feelings  at  this  time,  but  is  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  make  us  doubtful  whether  we  should  assign 
it  to  this  or  to  a  later  period,  on  the  supposition  that  the  allusion 
is  quite  different. 

c.  Single-rhyme  Stanza. 

N.  T.  A. 

Farewell  the  reign 28  44  36 

Is  it  possible 216  —  106 

Hate  whom  ye  list 251  —  137 

Farewell  the  reign. 

"  Farewell  the  reign  of  cruelty ! 
Though  that  with  pain  my  liberty 
Dear  have  I  bought,  yet  shall  surety 
Conduct  my  thoughts  of  joy  needy." 

Is  it  possible. 

"  It  is  possible 
For  to  turn  so  oft ; 

To  bring  that  low'st  that  was  most  aloft ; 
And  to  fall  highest,  yet  to  light  soft ; 
It  is  possible  !  " 

Hate  whom  ye  list,  which  can  hardly  be  called  a  poem,  seems 
expressive  of  the  sentiment  of  this  period. 


112  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

d.  Rhyme-royal  Stanza. 


A. 


They  flee  from  me 23  40  32 

My  hope  alas 162  —  66 

What  should  I  say 246  —  132 

Full  well  it  may 228  —  117 

They  flee  from  me  is  interpreted  by  Dr.  Nott  in  an  allegorical 
sense  throughout,  and  refers,  according  to  his  explanation,  to 
Fortune  thus  personified.  But  the  poem  is  suggestive  of  the  son- 
net Whoso  list  to  hunt?  (N.  143  ;  A.  18)  inasmuch  as  the  poet 
begins  with  the  figure  of  a  deer,  formerly  tame,  ready  to  take 
bread  from  his  hand.  There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  doubt 
that  a  lady  of  flesh  and  blood  is  the  one  referred  to  here. 

My  hope,  alas  ! 

"  Sometime  delight  did  tune  my  song, 
And  led  my  heart  full  pleasantly ; 
And  to  myself  I  said  among  — 
1  My  hap  is  coming  hastily.' 
But  it  hath  happed  contrary. 
Assurance  causeth  my  distress, 
And  I  remain  all  comfortless." 

What  should  I  say. 

"  I  promised  you, 

And  you  promised  me, 

To  be  as  true 

As  I  would  be. 

But  since  I  see 

Your  double  heart, 

Farewell  my  part !  " 
Full  well  it  may. 

"  What  thing  may  more  declare 
Of  love  the  crafty  kind, 
Than  see  the  wise  so  ware, 
In  love  to  be  so  blind, 
If  so  it  be  assigned; 
Let  them  enjoy  the  gain 
That  thinks  it  worth  the  pain." 


13 


AND  HIS  POEMS. 
e.   a  b  a  b  Stanza. 

N.  T.  A. 

Where  shall  I  have 26  51  35 

If  ever  man    .     . 37  59  45 

AU  heavy  minds     Y-x; >  1(4  —  67 

Ah!  Robin!.     .     \0f  .     .     .     •   v*/S8  —  88 

Since  so  ye  please      /S^a£A.L  iF.9^^r    2.W  —  121 

Now  must  I  learn 233  —  121 

Where  shall  I  have. 

li  I  speak  not  now  to  move  your  heart 
That  you  should  rue  upon  my  pain ; 
The  sentence  given  may  not  revert  : 
I  know  such  labour  were  but  vain. 

Fortune  and  you  did  me  advance; 
Methought  I  swam,  and  could  not  drown  : 
Happiest  of  all  ;  but  my  mischance 
Did  lift  me  up,  to  throw  me  down. 

Where  are  your  pleasant  words,  alas  ? 
Where  is  your  faith  ?  your  steadfastness  ? 
There  is  no  more  but  all  doth  pass, 
And  I  am  left  all  comfortless.1' 

Turning  to  the  poem  Though  I  cannot  your  cruelty  constrain 
(N.  184  ;  A.  85),  we  find  the  lover  hopeless,  but  craving  that  his 
lady  might  rue  upon  his  pain.  That  poem  was  conjectured  to 
belong  to  the  period  preceding  this  of  which  we  now  speak. 
In  verse  14  of  the  poem  before  us  we  may  fairly  judge  that 
Wyatt  has  in  mind  a  similar  expression  used  on  some  former 
occasion,  when  he  says  he  does  not  now  speak  to  move  his  lady 
to  be  pitiful.  The  proverb  "  like  to  like,"  quoted  in  verse  24, 
has  been  already  noted  as  applied  in  a  different  form  in  the 
rondeau  Thou  hast  no  faith  (N.  151;  A.  28).  Further,  the 
allusion  to  the  fickleness  of  Fortune  has  been  frequently  met  in 
the  poems  of  this  period. 

8 


II4  SIX   THOMAS   WYATT 

It  should  be  added  that  in  the  Harington  MS.  the  following 
line  is  superscribed  in  Wyatt's  hand  :  — 

"  Podra  ser  che  no  esj"1 

This  leads  Nott  to  suppose  that  the  poem  is  translated  from  the 
Spanish,  and  probably  written  while  Wyatt  was  in  Spain.  The 
piece  may  be  an  imitation ;  but  the  phraseology  and  the  thought 
are  so  often  repetitions  of  what  we  find  in  other  original  poems 
that  we  must  hesitate  before  we  pronounce  it  a  translation. 
If  ever  man. 

"  Sometime  I  stood  so  in  her  grace, 
That,  as  I  would  require, 
Each  joy  I  thought  did  me  embrace, 
That  furthered  my  desire. 

For  she  hath  turned  so  her  wheel, 
That  I,  unhappy  man, 
May  wail  the  time  that  I  did  feel 
Wherewith  she  fed  me  than." 

When  we  compare  this  with  the  two  poems  Once  as  me- 
thought,  Fortime  me  kissed  (N.  21;  T.  63;  A.  30);  After 
great  storms  the  calm  returns  (N.  156;  A.  60),  it  is  evident 
that  If  ever  man  is  subsequent  to  those,  and  should  be  assigned 
to  a  later  period ;  compared  with  My  hope,  alas !  hath  me 
abused  (N.  162  ;  A.  66),  the  intimate  connection  is  clearly 
seen  :  the  two  poems  must  go  together. 

All  heavy  minds. 

"  I  seek  nothing 
But  thus  for  to  discharge 
My  heart  of  sore  sighing ; 
To  plain  at  large. 

And  with  my  lute 
Sometime  to  ease  my  pain  ; 
For  else  all  other  suit 
Is  clean  in  vain." 


AND   HIS  POEMS.  1 1  5 

This  poem  introduces  us  to  a  set  of  "  lute-songs,"  with  which 
we  shall  soon  become  acquainted. 

Ah  !  Robin  ! 

"  ■  My  lady  is  unkind,  perdie  ! ' 
Alack,  why  is  she  so? 
4  She  loveth  another  better  than  me, 
And  yet  she  will  say,  No.'  " 

Since  so  ye  please. 

"  But  cursed  be  that  cruel  heart 
Which  hath  procured  a  careless  mind 
For  me  and  my  unfeigned  smart, 
And  forceth  me  such  faults  to  find." 

Now  must  I  learn. 

"  I  may  no  longer  more  endure 
My  wonted  life  to  lead  ; 
But  I  must  learn  to  put  in  ure 
The  change  of  womanhed. 

I  ask  none  other  remedy 
To  recompense  my  wrong, 
But  once  to  have  the  liberty 
That  I  have  lacked  so  long." 

f.     Anomalous. 

N. 

My  lute  awake 20 

My  pen  !  take  pain 207 

At  most  mischief 177 

Now  all  of  change 256 

Marvel  no  more 30 

Alas  the  grief 168 

If  in  the  world 186 

Since  you  will  needs 239 

How  should  I 243 

Spite  hath  no  power 249 

Tangled  I  was 252 


T. 

A. 

64 

29 

— 

98 

— 

73 

— 

141 

SO 

39 



7i 

— 

S7 

— 

127 

— 

130 

— 

135 

— 

137 

n6  SI/?    THOMAS    WYATT 

N.  T.  A; 

Blame  not  my  lute 205  —  96 

Patience  for  my  device 1S1  —  82 

Patience  though  I  have  not      .     .     .     .  1S2  —  83 

Patience  of  all  my  smart 183  —  84 

Patience  for  I  have  wrong 259  —  144 

When  first  mine  eyes 42  y6  50 

My  lute  awake :  a  a  b  a  b. 

"  My  lute  awake,  perform  the  last 
Labour,  that  thou  and  I  shall  waste, 
And  end  that  I  have  now  begun : 
And  when  this  song  is  sung  and  past, 
My  lute  !  be  still,  for  I  have  done." 

My  pen,  take  pain  :  a  a  b  a  b. 

"  My  pen !  take  pain  a  little  space 
To  follow  that  which  doth  me  chase, 
And  hath  in  hold  my  heart  so  sore ; 
But  when  thou  hast  this  brought  to  pass, 
My  pen  !  I  prithee  write  no  more." 

This  poem  is  a  close  imitation  of  the  preceding ;  Nott  calls  it 
"  a  parody,"  —  a  term  hardly  appropriate  in  this  case. 
At  most  ?7iischief :  aaabcccb. 

"  At  most  mischief 
I  suffer  grief ; 
For  of  relief 
Since  I  have  none, 
My  lute  and  I 
Continually 
Shall  us  apply 
To  sigh  and  moan." 

Now  all  of  change :  a  b  c  a  b  c. 

"  Of  Fortune's  might 
That  each  compels, 
And  me  the  most,  it  doth  suffice; 
Now  for  my  right 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  \\j 

To  ask  nought  else 

But  to  withdraw  this  enterprise. 

And  she  unjust 

Which  feareth  not 

In  this  her  fame  to  be  defiled, 

Vet  once  I  trust 

Shall  be  my  lot 

To  quite  the  craft  that  me  beguiled." 

Marvel  no  more  .*  ababacac. 

"  .Marvel  no  more  although 
The  songs,  I  sing,  do  moan  ; 
For  other  life  than  woe, 
I  never  proved  none. 

And  in  my  heart  also 
Is  graven  with  letters  deep, 
A  thousand  sighs  and  mo, 
A  flood  of  tears  to  weep." 

The  allusion  in  the  closing  stanza  of  this  poem  to  a  certain 
Mistress  Chaunce,  or  Souche,  is  not  of  great  importance.  There 
was  a  Mistress  Souche  in  existence  at  that  time,  whose  portrait 
by  Holbein  has  come  down  to  us,  —  possibly  the  reference  is  to 
her ;  and  so  Dr.  Nott  conjectures  likely.  If  this  be  the  case, 
the  introduction  of  the  compliment  here  is  a  mere  tribute  of 
gallantry  to  a  beautiful  woman. 

Alas  the  grief :  a  a  b  a  b  b. 

"  I  have  wailed  thus,  weeping  in  nightly  pain, 
In  sobs  and  sighs,  alas  !  and  all  in  vain, 
In  inward  plaint,  and  heart's  woeful  torment. 
And  yet,  alas  !  lo  !  cruelty  and  disdain 
Have  set  at  nought  a  faithful  true  intent, 
And  price  hath  privilege  truth  to  prevent." 

If  in  the  world :  abaabcb  deeded. 

••  Who  list  to  live  in  quietness 
By  me  let  him  beware. 


Il8  SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 

For  I  by  high  disdain 

Am  made  without  redress  ; 

And  unkindness,  alas  !  hath  slain 

My  poor  true  heart,  all  comfortless." 

Since  you  will  needs :  a  b  a  c  b  c. 

"  A  broken  lute,  untuned  strings, 
With  such  a  song  may  well  bear  part, 
That  neither  pleaseth  him  that  sings, 
Nor  them  that  hear,  but  her  alone 
That  with  her  heart  would  strain  my  heart 
To  hear  it  groan." 

How  should  I :  a  a  b  c  c  b. 

"  Whom  I  did  trust, 
And  think  so  just, 
Another  man  hath  won. 

Fortune  did  smile 
A  right  short  while, 
And  never  said  me  nay  ; 
With  pleasant  plays, 
And  joyful  days, 
My  time  to  pass  away. 
Where  is  the  oath, 
Where  is  the  troth, 
That  she  to  me  did  give? 
Such  feigned  words 
With  sely  bourds 
Let  no  wise  man  believe." 

Spite  hath  no  power ;  ababbaba. 

"  Sometime  my  friend,  farewell  my  foe, 
Since  thou  change  I  am  not  thine; 
But  for  relief  of  all  my  woe, 
It  doth  suffice  that  thou  wert  mine. 

Praying  you  all  that  hear  this  song, 
To  judge  no  wight,  nor  none  to  blame  ; 
It  doth  suffice  she  doth  me  wrong, 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  U9 

And  that  herself  doth  know  the  same. 

And  though  she  change  it  is  no  shame, 
Their  kind  it  is,  and  hath  been  long  : 
Yet  I  protest  she  hath  no  name  ; 
It  doth  suffice  she  doth  me  wrong."' 

Tangled  I  was  .«  a  a  a  b  b  b. 

"  Too  great  desire  was  my  guide, 
And  wanton  will  went  by  my  side, 
Hope  ruled  still  and  made  me  bide, 
Of  Love's  craft  the  extremity. 
But  ha !  ha  !  ha  !  full  well  is  me, 
For  I  am  now  at  liberty. 
With  feigned  words,  which  were  but  wind, 
To  long  delays  I  was  assigned  ; 
Her  wily  looks  my  wits  did  blind. 

Was  never  bird  tangled  in  lime 
That  brake  away  in  better  time, 
Than  I,  that  rotten  boughs  did  climb, 
And  had  no  hurt  but  scaped  free. 
Now  ha !  ha  !  ha  !  full  well  is  me, 
For  I  am  now  at  liberty." 

The  six  poems  which  follow  are  all  cast  in  one  stanza  form  : 
a  b  a  b  c  c. 

Blanie  not  my  lute  /  was  evidently  called  forth  by  some  com- 
plaint of  the  bitterness  of*  his  songs.  Perhaps  it  follows  with  an 
interval,  My  lute,  azuake  (N.  20;  T.  64;  A.  29). 

"  Though  my  songs  be  somewhat  strange, 
And  speak  such  words  as  touch  thy  change, 
Blame  not  my  Lute  ! 


Then  though  my  songs  be  somewhat  plain, 
And  toucheth  some  that  use  to  feign, 
Blame  not  my  Lute  ! 


120  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

And  though  the  songs  which  I  indite 
Do  quit  thy  change  with  rightful  spite, 
Blame  not  my  Lute  ! 

Spite  asketh  spite,  and  changing,  change, 
And  falsed  faith  must  needs  be  known; 
The  faults  so  great,  the  case  so  strange  ; 
Of  right  it  must  abroad  be  blown  : 
Then  since  that  by  thine  own  desart 
My  songs  do  tell  how  true  thou  art, 
Blame  not  my  Lute  !  " 

Patience  for  my  device  introduces  to  our  notice  a  set  of  four 
poems,  more  or  less  closely  related  to  each  other.  This  first 
of  the  series  represents  a  sarcastic  dialogue  between  the  dis- 
carded lover  and  his  former  mistress.  The  lover  speaks  in  the 
opening  stanza,  saying :  "  I  need  patience  on  account  of  your 
treatment  of  me  ;  hence  I  adopt  patience  as  my  device.  You, 
inasmuch  as  we  are  opposites  by  nature,  shall  take  impatience 
for  yours."  The  lady  replies  testily  :  "  Patience  !  yes  ;  and  with 
good  reason.  You  have  no  cause  at  all,  and  so,  great  need 
of  patience  ! "  The  rest  of  the  dialogue  is  a  rather  obscure 
continuation  of  this  counterplay  of  taunts  and  recrimination ; 
at  the  close  the  lady  admits  that  she  has  accepted  a  new 
suitor.  The  word-play  in  the  closing  stanza  springs  from  the 
last  speech  of  the  lover,  who  calls  on  the  lady  to  have  patience  ; 
she  rejoins  :  "  The  other  (impatience)  was  for  me ;  this  pati- 
ence is  for  you." 

The  two  following  poems  may  be  brought  together  thus  : 

Patience  though  I.  Patience  of  all. 

"  Patience  !  though  I  have  not  "  Patience  to  have  a  nay, 

The  thing  that  I  require ;  Of  that  I  most  desire  ; 

I  must,  of  force,  God  wot,  Patience  to  have  alway, 

Forbear  my  most  desire.  And  ever  burn  like  fire. 

Was  ever  thought  so  moved,  For  it  doth  well  appear 

To  hate  that  it  hath  loved  ?  My  friend  is  turned  my  foe. 


AND  HIS  POEMS,  l2\ 

Patience  of  all  my  harm,  Patience  of  all  my  smart ! 

For  Fortune  is  my  foe  ;  For  Fortune  is  turned  awry  : 

Patience  must  be  the  charm  Patience  must  ease  my  h 

To  heal  me  of  my  woe.  That  mourns  continually. 

Patience  without  offence  Patience  to  suffer  wrong 

"   Is  a  painful  partem  Is  a  patience  too  long."' 

Patience  !  for  I  have  wrong, 

"  Patience  !  for  I  have  wrong 
And  dare  not  shew  wherein; 
Patience  shall  be  my  song : 
Since  truth  can  nothing  win." 

When  first  mine  eyes. 

"  When  first  mine  eyes  did  view  and  mark 
Thy  fair  beauty  to  behold  ; 
And  when  my  ears  listened  to  hark 
The  pleasant  words,  that  thou  me  told ; 
I  would  as  then  I  had  been  free 
From  ears  to  hear,  and  eyes  to  see. 
And  when  in  mind  I  did  consent 
To  follow  this,  my  fancy's  will, 
And  when  my  heart  did  first  relent 
To  taste  such  bait,  my  life  to  spill ; 
I  would  my  heart  had  been  as  thine, 
Or  else  thy  heart  had  been  as  mine." 

g.  Ottava  Riiua. 

N. 

To  wet  your  eye 210 

Throughout  the  world     ....  75 

Desire,  alas ! 65 

Sometime  I  fled 69 

To  wet  your  eye. 

"  Prate,  and  paint,  and  spare  not, 
Ye  know  I  can  me  wreak ; 
And  if  so  be  ye  can  so  not, 
Be  sure  I  do  not  reck  ; 


T. . 

A. 



IOI 

83 

177 

80 

165 

54 

171 

122  SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 

And  though  ye  swear  it  were  not, 

I  can  both  swear  and  speak 

By  God,  and  by  this  cross 

If  I  have  the  mock,  ye  shall  have  the  loss." 

Throughout  the  world. 

"  Throughout  the  world  if  it  were  sought, 
Fair  words  enough  a  man  shall  find ; 
They  be  good  cheap,  they  cost  right  nought, 
Their  substance  is  but  only  wind ; 

But  well  to  say  and  so  to  mean, — 

That  sweet  accord  is  seldom  seen." 

Desire,  alas!  is  one  of  the  most  obscure  of  all  Wyatt's 
poems.  It  is  impossible  to  offer  an  explanation  that  shall  be 
entirely  to  our  satisfaction,  but  perhaps  the  best  is  this  :  — 

"Desire,  my  master  and  my  foe,  how  sorely  altered  mayst 
thou  see  thyself !  Once  thou  didst  seek  her  who  is  the  cause 
of  my  uncertainty  and  despair ;  again  thou  didst  inspire  her 
with  some  degree  of  love,  —  the  mistress  who  rules  thee  and 
me.  What  reason  hast  thou  so  to  rule  thy  subjects?  For 
where  on  thy  account  I  expected  to  be  blamed,  so  now,  because 
of  her  hate,  I  fear  it." 

In  the  light  of  the  poems  discussed  already,  perhaps  we  may 
interpret  as  follows  :  Desire  is  the  god  of  love.  The  lover  ad- 
dresses him,  exclaiming  over  the  fickleness  of  his  rule.  Now 
following,  now  leading,  is  the  antithesis  of  verses  3,  4 ;  the  ob- 
ject of  both  the  leading  and  the  seeking  is  the  lady  loved.  In 
the  first  case  the  lady  is  indifferent,  and  Desire  must  follow  as  a 
suitor ;  in  the  second  case,  Desire  has  imparted  to  the  lady 
an  affection  for  him  who  has  been  following,  and  so  Desire 
is  said  to  lead  her  who  was  the  inspiration  of  the  lover's  pas- 
sion. The  closing  couplet  may  refer  to  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  the  lover's  position.  We  saw  in  several  poems  that 
there  was  a  degree  of  danger  connected  with  the  pushing  of  his 
suit,  and  that  secrecy  was  necessary  to  safety.  So  here  the  lover 
doubted  to  have  blame,  while  Desire,  or  Love,  inspired  his  mis- 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  l2- 

tress  to  show  him  kindness  and  affection  :  this  referring  to  that 
period  designated  by  us  as  the  period  of  Attainment.  Now,  the 
lover  dreads  the  same  because  of  his  lady's  hate. 

"  Was  ever  thought  so  moved, 
To  hate  that  it  hath  loved  ?  " 

N.  1S2;  A.  83. 

"  For  it  doth  well  appear 
My  friend  is  turned  my  foe." 

N.  183;  A.  84. 

"Then  in  my  book  wrote  my  mistress 
'  I  am  yours,  you  may  well  be  sure  ; 
And  shall  be  while  my  life  doth  dure.' 

But  she  herself  which  then  wrote  that 
Is  now  mine  extreme  enemy. 

My  love  from  her  no  man  can  let, 
Though  never  so  sore  they  me  threat." 

N.  220  ;  A.  109. 

This  brings  us  to  the  period  we  have  last  been  following,  and 
it  is  to  this  period  that  the  epigram  probably  belongs.  The 
explanation  is  offered  only  in  default  of  a  better.  The  ob- 
scurity is  too  great  to  be  easily  penetrated ;  the  confusion  in 
the  use  of  the  word  desire  —  at  times  employed  to  designate  the 
god  of  love,  at  times  referring  to  the  passion  of  the  lover  or  the 
affection  of  the  lady  —  increases  the  difficulty  of  interpretation. 

Sometime  I  fled  is  another  exceedingly  difficult  poem.  It  has 
generally  been  interpreted  as  referring  to  the  journey  of  Henry 
and  Anne  Boleyn  to  Calais  in  the  year  1532;  although  in  the 
list  of  those  who  accompanied  them  on  that  occasion,  Wyatt's 
name  is  not  found.  There  is  quite  an  important  variation  in  the 
reading  of  the  two  texts.     The  Harington  MS.  gives  verses  4,  5  : 

"And  now  I  follow  the  coals  that  be  quent, 
From  Dover  to  Calais,  against  my  mind/' 

Where  Tottel  reads :  — 


124  SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 

"  And  now,  the  coals  I  follow,  that  be  quent, 
From  Dover  to  Calais,  with  willing  mind." 

So  in  the  last  verse  the  MS.  has  :  — 

"  Meshed  in  the  briars,  that  erst  was,  all  to  tome" 

And  Tottel :  — 

"...  that  erst  was  only  torn," 

The  MS.  reading  would  seem  to  say  :  Once  I  fled  to  avoid 
the  presence  of  this  lady ;  but  it  was  sorely  against  my  inclina- 
tion. I  am  now  compelled  to  follow  in  her  train,  and,  strangely, 
find  this  nearness  most  distasteful.  The  last  line  of  the  epigram, 
inverted  and  involved  after  Wyatt's  manner,  should  be  read  : 

"  Who  was  first  meshed  in  the  briars,  severely  torn." 

Tottel's  reading  is  to  be  thus  interpreted :  I,  who  formerly 
sought  by  separation  to  overcome  my  affection  for  this  lady, 
now  follow  willingly  and  unmoved  in  her  company.  I,  who 
was  then  so  blind,  deceived,  comprehend  now,  and  am  recovered. 
Then  I  acted  as  does  one  entangled  in  the  briers,  —  struggled 
vainly  to  be  free,  when  every  effort  bound  me  more  closely. 

In  the  absence  of  further  evidence  it  is  impossible  to  declare 
with  certainty  for  either  text.  Neither  reading  affects  the  al- 
lusion, however,  and  so  does  not  enter  into  the  question  of 
chronology.  The  date  of  the  epigram  is  probably  the  year 
1532,  and  the  reference,  that  already  indicated.  This  brings 
us  to  the  end  of  our  fourth  period,  — the  period  of  Disillusion 
and  Recovery. 

We  have  now  examined  all  the  poems  which  appear  to  be 
intimately  connected  with  Wyatt's  own  experiences  during  the 
years  previous  to  1532.  Certain  groups  have  been  established, 
each  consisting  of  a  set  of  poems  bound  together  by  resem- 
blances of  style  and  form,  as  by  similarity  in  thought  and  in 
expression.  Little  or  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  arrange  an 
order  among  the  individual  members  of  any  set  or  group  ;  and 
the  reader  must  remember  that  the  arrangement  by  stanza  form 


AND   HIS  POEMS,  125 

is  one  of  convenience  merely,  the  subordinate  sets  falling  paral- 
lel with  each  other,  not  following,  group  by  group,  in  the  order 
in  which  they  have  necessarily  been  discussed.  Whether  all 
the  poems  gathered  in  any  particular  group  really  belong  to- 
gether, may  easily  be  doubted  by  the  student  ;  and  in  many 
cases  the  writer  has  been  equally  in  doubt.  The  possibility  that 
Wyatt  may  have  imitated  pieces  which  pleased  his  fancy  at  a 
date  later  than  that  apparently  indicated  by  their  contents ; 
the  possibility,  too,  that  we  are  at  times  interpreting  into  the 
poems  the  meanings  we  take  out  of  them,  —  doubts  like  these 
make  our  task  a  by  no  means  light  one.  But,  granting  that 
these  hypotheses  are  not  entirely  unreasonable,  there  neverthe- 
less remains  enough  of  sincerity,  enough  of  personality,  to  give 
a  basis  to  our  theory,  and  grounds  for  our  conjectures. 

The  existence  of  these  groups  admitted,  it  is  impossible  not 
to  recognize  the  order  of  their  progress.  There  is  a  natural 
development  which  cannot  be  mistaken.  The  romance  has 
sprung  up  of  itself;  there  has  been  no  artificial  building:  the 
materials  were  there,  and  have  simply  been  placed  in  their  right 
connection.  There  is  nothing  in  it  that  conflicts  with  the  record 
of  Wyatt's  life  as  it  is  known  to  us.  The  facts  which  we  have 
noted  are  easily  rehearsed.  We  saw  in  our  sketch  of  the  poet's 
life  that  he  probably  appeared  at  Court  in  1520  or  152 1.  He 
was  employed  in  various  services,  as  we  have  seen,  and  sent  with 
royal  moneys  to  the  North,  in  October  and  November  of  1523. 
He  participated  in  the  feat  of  arms  at  Greenwich  on  Christmas 
Day  of  1525,  and  in  the  following  year  spent  the  months  of 
March,  April,  and  May  in  France  with  Sir  Thomas  Cheney.  I n 
the  early  part  of  1527  Wyatt  visited  Italy  in  company  with  Sir 
John  Russell,  and  in  1528  took  his  position  in  the  service  at 
Calais.  From  1524  to  1531  the  poet  held  the  office  of  Clerk 
of  the  King's  Jewels.  In  1532  he  was  made  Commissioner  of 
the  Peace  for  Essex.  These  points  are  mentioned  to  show  that 
Wyatt  remained  in  public  life,  and,  until  his  departure  for  Calais 
in  152S,  was  necessarily  much  at  Henry's  Court. 


I26  SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 

Among  the  most  prominent  of  the  maids  of  honor  at  that 
period  was  Anne  Boleyn ;  and  with  her  name  that  of  the  poet 
has  been  associated  from  his  own  day  to  this.  As  to  the  real 
character  of  the  relations  existing  between  these  two,  there  has 
been  much  conjecture.  Dr.  Nott  devotes  a  deal  of  argument 
to  proving  the  connection  one  of  those  platonic  friendships 
which  were  common  at  the  time,  and  were  indeed  the  fashion, 
causing  no  great  scandal  or  remark.  While  Nott  admits  the 
testimony  of  the  poems  as  sufficient  proof  of  this  attachment,  he 
has  been  severely  ridiculed  by  other  writers,  who  find  no  certain 
reference  to  Anne  Boleyn  in  Wyatt's  verses. 

In  the  gossip  of  that  day  the  names  of  Wyatt  and  Anne 
Boleyn  were  often  coupled;  and  whatever  the  cause  of  Wyatt's" 
short  imprisonment  in  1536,  it  is  evident  from  the  letters  we 
have  read,  that  his  fellow-courtiers,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
referred  it  to  the  poet's  old  attachment  for  the  queen.  The 
poet's  own  grandson,  George  Wyatt,  relates  an  anecdote  to 
prove  that  the  king  and  Wyatt  were  at  one  time  rivals  for  the 
favor  of  the  Lady  Anne.1  In  regard  to  Wyatt's  attachment, 
Dr.  Nott  has  this  to  say :  — 

"Thus  circumstanced,  we  may  believe  Wyatt  and  Anne  Boleyn 
to  have  mutually  regarded  each  other  with  the  lively  tenderness  of 
an  innocent,  but  a  dangerous  friendship.  Often,  I  have  no  doubt, 
did  Wyatt  make  her  the  subject  of  his  most  empassioned  strains : 
and  often  did  she  listen  with  complacency  to  his  numbers,  which, 
while  they  gratified  her  love  of  present  admiration,  promised  to  con- 
fer upon  her  charms  some  portion  of  that  poetic  immortality  which 
the  romantic  passion  of  Petrarch  had  bestowed  on  Laura's."2 

To  this  we  may  add  that  Wyatt  was  a  youth  of  not  more 
than  twenty  years  when  he  met  Anne  at  Court,  —  herself  a  girl 

1  This  anecdote  is  given  entire  in  the  biography  prefixed  to  Wyatt's 
poems  in  the  Aldine  Edition,  p.  xv,  quoted  from  the  "  Extracts  from  the 
Life  of  the  Virtuous,  Christian,  and  Renowned  Queen  Anne  Boleigne. 
By  George  Wyatt,  Esq.,"  p.  4. 

2  Nott's  edition,  Memoirs,  p.  xxL 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  I2; 

three  years  younger  than  the  poet.  In  the  biographical  sketch 
contained  in  the  Akline  Edition  of  Wyatt's  poems  (page  xiv  | 
the  writer  says  :  — 

"  It  was  about  the  year  1529  that  Anne  Boleyn  also  became  con- 
nected with  the  Court  as  maid  of  honour  to  Queen  Katharine." 

But  poor  Queen  Catharine  was  not  in  a  position  to  need  the 
services  of  new  maids  of  honor  in  1529  ;  and  Anne  Boleyn  had 
been  a  year  or  more  the  acknowledged  mistress  of  the  king 
when  that  year  arrived.  In  regard  to  Anne's  actual  appearance 
at  Henry's  Court,  Brewer  says  :  — 

u  In  the  March  of  1522  I  find  Mistress  Anne  Boleyn  mentioned 
with  other  ladies  as  having  charge  of  certain  garments  and  dresses 
which  had  been  used  at  a  royal  revel  on  the  4th  of  March  in 
the  same  year;  in  other  words,  officially  attached  to  the  royal 
wardrobe.'* ! 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Anne  had  been  already  made  the 
subject  of  laudatory  verse  even  at  that  youthful  age  ;  the  writer 
of  the  verses  being  no  less  a  poet  than  Content  Marot,  the  witty 
Frenchman.  In  this  connection  D'Hericault,  the  biographer  of 
that  poet,  says  :  — 

"  C'est  a  la  Cour  de  Marguerite,  entre  Cldment  Marot  et  Louis 
de  Berquin,  a  cette  fameuse  escole  d'amour  et  d'hdresie,  qu'  Ann 
de  Boleyn  apprit  la  haine  de  l'dglise  romaine  et  cette  science  de 
galanterie  a  laquelle  le  pataud  Henri  VIII  ne  sut  pas  re'sister." 

Referring  to  two  important  personages  whom  Marot  met  at 
the  Court  of  "Marguerite  de  Valois,  one  of  whom  was  Francois 
Sagon,  he  says  further  :  — 

"  L'autre,  nous  le  trouvons  au  milieu  de  cette  foule  de  demoi- 
selles d'honneur  de  Marguerite  avec  lesquelles  le  poete  gardera 
toujours  des  relations  de  courtoisie,  quand  il  les  retrouvera  plus 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vol.  iii.,  Int.,  p.  432. 


I28  SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 

tard  a  la  cour  de  Francois  ier,  et  qu'il  leur  dediera  diverses  pieces. 
Ce  personnage  n'est  autre  qu'Anne  de  Boleyn."  1 

Returning  once  more  to  our  English  poet,  we  may  remark 
that  it  was  very  natural  for  Wyatt,  with  his  head  full  of  the 
poetry  of  Italy,  and  possibly  that  of  France,  —  for  it  is  ridicu- 
lous to  assert  that  he  was  unacquainted  with  French  and  Italian 
literature  previous  to  his  visits  abroad  in  1526-27,  —  to  cast  his 
eye  around  for  another  Laura  or  Diane,  to  whom  he  might 
dedicate  the  verse  he  was  beginning  to  translate  and  to  com- 
pose. If  his  choice  happened  to  fall  upon  the  brilliant,  fas- 
cinating Anne  Boleyn — and  what  thing  more  likely?  —  his 
verse  would  prove  not  at  all  unwelcome  to  this  young  coquette 
fresh  from  the  Court  of  France.,  that  school  of  gallantry  and 
love,  where  she  had  already  received  the  tribute  offered  by 
the  French  poet  to  her  charms.  That  Wyatt  did  make  Anne 
Boleyn  the  subject  of  some  poems  has  been  pretty  generally 
admitted ;  the  question  still  remains,  Was  she  the  heroine  of  all 
those  compositions  just  examined  by  us  ;  and  if  so,  was  the  poet 
really  making  love  to  her  ? 

Wyatt  was  married,  and  had  a  son  at  the  time  he  met  Anne 
Boleyn.  But  Wyatt  was  a  courtier,  and  at  an  age  not  noted 
for  its  prudence  or  its  self-control.  We  have  hardly  space  to 
discuss  the  character  and  reputation  of  Anne  Boleyn ;  she  ap- 
pears before  us  in  as  many  different  lights  as  there  are  historians 
.to  record  her  frailties  and  her  misfortunes.  The  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  Brewer's  admirable  sketch  of  the  queen,  in  the  intro- 
duction to  volume  iv.  of  the  Calendars.  In  one  paragraph 
(page  244)  he  says  :  — 

"  Unquestionably  after  she  became  queen  she  permitted  herself 
to  be  addressed  by  her  inferiors  with  a  freedom  of  language  repug- 
nant to  the  dignity  of  her  sex  ;  and  she  even  interchanged  jests 
with  them  when  they  ventured  to  express  their  regard  for  her  in 
terms  more  expressive  of  admiration  than  respect.  Lively  and  at- 
tractive as  she  might  be,  she  had  not  the  qualities  to  inspire  awe. 

1  CEnvres  de  Clement  Marot,  Paris,  1867,  p.  xliii. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  129 

In  the  estimation  of  those  around  her,  she  never  at  any  time  rose 
above  the  mistress;  and  her  own  equivocal  position  with  the  king 
lowered  the  whole  moral  tone  of  the  circle  in  which  she  moved, 
and  lent  encouragement  to  laxity  and  licentiousness  no  English 
Court  had  witnessed  before.    How  indeed  could  it  be  otherwise?  " 

Such  was  the  character  in  part  of  the  lady  whom  Wyatt  had 
chosen  "out  of  all  the  flock,"  if  Anne  is  indeed  the  heroine  of 
the  love-songs.  And  the  allusions  and  the  circumstances  all 
agree.  The  necessary  secrecy ;  the  impossibility  of  enjoying 
the  love  which  apparently  was  mutual;  the  appearance  of  a 
rival  suitor  of  higher  rank  ;  the  warnings  to  his  mistress  to  guard 
her  honor  against  the  tempting  offers  of  position ;  the  lament 
that  he  had  loved  above  his  poor  degree ;  the  determination  to 
withdraw  because  another  was  in  possession  of  the  prize,  and 
that  it  was  Caesar's  mark  that  encircled  the  hind's  fair  neck,  — 
seem  to  make  the  matter  as  evident  as  it  could  probably  be 
safely  made.  The  confession  of  the  lady's  name  —  "  It  is  mine 
Anna,  God  it  wot"  —  confirms  the  supposition  of  her  identity, 
and  leaves  little  doubt  as  to  the  fact.  But  these  allusions  here 
referred  to  occur  in  poems  which  are  closely  bound  and  inter- 
woven with  the  rest.  They  are  not  apart  from  them,  but  they, 
together  with  them,  form  a  whole.  The  subject  of  one  is  the 
subject  of  another :  the  reference  may  be  clearer  here  than 
there  ;  but  the  allusion  is  the  same,  and  the  one  poem  is  to  be 
interpreted  in  the  light  given  by  the  other.  As  we  progress  in 
our  study  of  the  poet's  work,  we  find  that  imitations  cease  ;  the 
compositions  become  personal  and  fervid  :  we  find  the  record 
of  real  experiences  and  a  real  romance. 

Beginning  in  1522  or  1523,  it  reaches  its  turning-point  about 
the  year  1527,  and  its  end  in  1532.  We  say  its  turning-point 
in   1527  ;  and  here  again,  we  have  recourse  to  Brewer :  — 

"It  is  clear  that  he  [Henry]  felt  piqued  and  uneasy  at  the  at- 
tentions paid  by  others  to  Anne  Boleyn,  and  endeavored  to  thwart 
them;  but  he  had  not  yet  discovered  his  intentions  to  himself,  still 
less  toothers;  and  it  is  certain  that  he  had  only  revealed  them 

9 


I3o  SfK    THOMAS    WYATT 

partially  to  Wolsey.  .  .  .  It  was  not  until  1525  that  Wolsey  became 
aware  of  the  real  state  of  the  king's  mind.1  .  .  .  The  whole  affair 
was  carried  on  with  profound  secrecy,  .  .  .  nor  does  the  name  of 
Anne  Boleyn  ever  occur.  In  1527  it  was  buzzed  about  in  every 
ear,  and  every  tongue  was  talking  about  it."  2 

It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  crisis  was  reached  some  time 
before  that  date,  which  is  retained  as  giving  a  convenient  point 
of  division  in  setting  limits  to  the  different  periods  of  Wyatt's 
activity. 

As  to  the  success  of  this  love-affair,  we  may  judge  from  the 
allusions  in  the  poems  that  Wyatt  won,  or  thought  he  had  won, 
the  affection  of  the  lady.  But  this  period  of  happiness  was  very 
short,  and  it  may  well  be  doubted  from  the  evidence  of  the  other 
poems  that  Anne  ever  bestowed  her  heart  upon  the  poet  at  all. 
Probably  she  coquetted  with  his  affection  for  a  time,  and  then 
discarded  him  altogether,  as  the  king's  attachment  claimed  her 
notice.  One  thing  is  pretty  certain,  —  at  least  as  certain  as 
anything  in  this  connection  can  be,  —  and  that  is,  that  no  un- 
lawful intercourse  ever  stained  their  friendship.  In  the  poem 
Mine  old  dear  erf  my  (N.  50;  T.  40;  A.  149),  a  piece  which 
gives  probably  a  comprehensive  sketch  of  this  whole  episode, 
Wyatt  protests,  with  evident  sincerity,  speaking  in  the  person  of 
the  god  of  love  (verse  115),  — 

"  That  by  my  means  in  no  manner  of  wise 
Never  vile  pleasure  him  hath  overthrown." 

From  the  strain  in  which  the  poet  speaks  in  this  production, 
we  judge  it  written  subsequent  to  the  marriage,  and  previous 
to  the  downfall,  of  the  queen,  —  that  is,  between  the  years  1533 
and  1536. 

We  have  now  to  consider  briefly  the  remaining  productions  of 
Wyatt's  pen.  These  maybe  arranged  in  two  more  groups, — 
a  fifth  group  of  love-songs,  and  a  final  set  of  later  poems  of  a 
slightly  different  character. 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vol.  iv.,  Int.,  p.  246.  2  Ibid.,  p.  252. 


AND   HIS  POEMS. 


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132 


SIR    THOMAS    I  WATT 

Group   V. 
a.    Sonnets. 

N.  T.  A. 

You  !  that  in  love 5  36  5 

If  waker  care 6  36  6 

b.  Single-rhyme  Stanza. 

In  aeternum 189  —  89 

Ah  !  my  heart 250  —  136 

A  lady  gave  me 80  223  183 

c.  Rhyme-royal  Stanza. 

In  faith  I  wot  not 29  44  38 

And  if  an  eye 159  —  63 

Mine  old  dear  en'my 50  46  149 

d.  a  b  a  b  Stanza. 

There  was  never 153  —  57 

Will  ye  see 259  —  144 

Madam,  withouten 76  41  1 78 

e.  Ottava  Rima. 

A  face  that  should '.     .  64  68  164 

From  these  high  hills 68  46  169 

It  burnetii  yet,  alas  !    ........  78  79  180 

It  is  a  grievous  smart 212  —  103 

Of  Carthage,  he 71  83  173 

Tagus,  farewell 71  84  173 

f.    Anomalous. 

Your  looks  so  often 33  57  41 

O  goodly  hand 158  —  62 

Lo !  what  it  is 191  —  90 

Leave  thus  to  slander 192  —  92 

Since  love  is  such 230  —  118 

Deem  as  ye  list 261  —  145 

Me  list  no  more 240  —  128 

So  feeble  is  the  thread 56  73  1 54 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  1 33 

There  is  one  prominent  characteristic,  common  to  all  the 
poems  here  collected,  which,  more  than  anything  else,  separates 
and  distinguishes  them  from  those  that  have  preceded.  In  all 
the  compositions  hitherto  discussed  there  is  a  strong  personal 
element,  which  stamps  upon  each  production  of  that  time  the 
impression  of  a  definite  purpose  and  a  specific  address.  In 
these,  upon  the  contrary,  this  definiteness,  this  manifest  direct- 
ness, is  almost  entirely  wanting.  The  poet,  to  be  sure,  sings  of 
love  and  passion  yet ;  but  there  is  a  generalness  and  ac  in- 
definiteness  in  every  piece.  This  will  be  more  clearly  seen  by 
an  examination  of  the  poems  individually.  Add  to  this  per- 
vasive characteristic  other  qualities,  such  as  the  deepening  in 
sentiment,  the  increased  facility  of  expression,  the  freedom 
from  the  turbulence  of  the  earlier  productions,  —  and  these 
are  the  reasons  for  gathering  the  poems  named  in  a  common 
group. 

You  I  that  in  love  (class  a).  This  sonnet  was  apparently  in- 
tended to  record  some  accident  of  fortune  occurring  in  the 
month  of  May.  It  has  generally  been  referred  to  the  events 
of  May,  1536, — the  period  of  Anne  Boleyn's  disgrace  and  of 
Wyatt's  own  imprisonment  and  accusation.  In  our  preliminary 
sketch  of  the  poet's  life  it  was  noted  that  in  May  of  1535  Wyatt 
underwent  an  earlier  imprisonment ;  and  this  fact  may  give 
greater  force  to  the  expression,  — 

"That  me  betide  in  May  most  commonly." 

There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  accept  the  general  tradi- 
tion, and  assign  the  poem  to  the  year  1536,  or  soon  thereafter. 

There  are  several  suggestions  of  Chaucer  in  this  sonnet,  for 
in  that  writer  we  find  the  following  :  — 

"  Do  wey  your  book,  ryse  up,  and  let  us  daunce, 
And  lat  us  do  to  May  som  observaunce." 

T.  andC.  ii.  m. 

"  Now  thanketh  God,  he  may  gone  in  the  daunce 
Of  him  that  Love  liste  fiebly  for  tavaunce." 

T.  and  C.  i.  517. 


I34  SIR    THOMAS    WYATT 

And  for  al  that  was  he  sete  behynde 

With  hem  that  Love  liste  fiebly  to  avaunce." 

Comp.  of  Blk.  K.  353. 

"  For  ye  that  reigne  in  youth  and  lustynesse." 

Court  of  Love,  176. 

"And  freshe  Beaute  Lust  and  Jolyte." 

Comp.  to  Pitie,  39. 

If  maker  care  evidently  belongs  to  a  period  when  Wyatt's  art 
was  well  developed.  The  motive  is  the  discovery  of  second 
love  in  the  poet's  breast.  Phyllis  now  claims  the  affection  for- 
merly bestowed  on  Brunet,  —  a  name  appropriately  referred  to 
the  unhappy  queen,  who  had  "  set  his  wealth  in  such  a  roar,"  or 
as  the  line  originally  read  :  — 

"  Her.  that  did  set  our  country  in  a  roar." 

"The  alteration,  which  is  in  Wyatt's  own  hand,  was  made 
probably  that  the  person  intended  might  not  appear  too  closely 
designated."' 1  The  date  of  the  poem  must  be  somewhat  later 
than  that  of  the  preceding.  It  would  be  pleasant  to  refer  the 
Phyllis  of  the  sonnet  to  the  poet's  wife ;  but  it  is  probably  to 
be  taken  merely  as  a  compliment  of  gallantry  to  some  lady  of 
the  circle  in  which  the  poet  moved. 

In  ceternum  (class  b)  is  a  poem  similar  in  character  to  that 
just  examined. 

"  In  aeternum  then  from  my  heart  I  cest 
That,  I  had  first  determined  for  the  best ; 
Now  in  the  place  another  thought  doth  rest 
In  aeternum." 

Ah  !  my  heart. 

"  Thou  know'st  full  well  that  but  of  late, 
I  was  turned  out  of  Love's  gate : 
And  now  to  guide  me  to  this  mate ! 
Ah  !  my  heart,  what  aileth  thee  ?  " 

A  lady  gave  me  may  be  assigned,  perhaps,  to  this  period. 

1  Nott,  Notes,  p.  539. 


AND  HIS  POEMS,  135 

///  faith  I  wot  not  (class  c)  seems  to  be  an  expression  of  re- 
joicing over  the  outcome  of  events  in  June,  1536.  From  allu- 
sions in  Wyatt's  speech  in  his  defence,  one  may  gather  that  the 
accusations,  of  whatever  kind  they  were,  which  led  to  his  im- 
prisonment at  that  time,  were  the  result  of  a  conspiracy  among 
some  who  were  envious  at  his  rapid  advance  and  the  general 
favor  with  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  king  and  his  own 
associates.  Wyatt  himself  said  in  his  defence  before  the  Privy 
Council  that  his  imprisonment  was  due  to  the  enmity  of  the 
Duke  of  Suffolk,  not  to  the  ill-will  of  Henry.  If  such  were  the 
case,  very  likely  these  private  enemies  resorted  to  the  old  stories 
of  Wyatt's  relations  with  Anne  Boleyn  to  bring  the  poet  under 
suspicion  at  this  dangerous  time.  Interpreting  in  the  light  of 
these  surmises,  we  should  see  considerable  force  in  the  allusions 
of  the  second  stanza  to  his  innocence  of  the  alleged  offence,  and 
in  the  closing  verses  to  the  discomfiture  of  his  enemies  on  his 
acquittal,  and  immediate  promotion  to  a  command  in  the  army 
under  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  We  can  hardly  reconcile  the  allu- 
sions made  to  the  circumstances  of  his  love-affair  ;  and  therefore 
the  piece  is  placed  in  this  later  group,  and  assigned  to  the 
month  of  June  or  July  of  1536. 

And  if  an  eye  may  possibly  belong  to  an  earlier  period  ;  but 
the  earnest,  dignified  style  is  more  in  harmony  with  the  present. 
The  situation  may  as  easily  be  an  artificial  as  a  real  one.  The 
motive  is  this.  A  lover  becomes  suspicious  of  his  lady's  good 
faith.  He  has  seen  her  in  a  public  place  bestow  a  glance  "  all 
soul"  upon  a  possible  rival.  This  he  charges  on  the  lady,  who 
becomes  indignant,  and  retorts  that  he  is  blinded  by  his  jealousy- 
The  lover  now  speaks  in  the  words  of  the  poem  before  us.  He 
wishes  to  conciliate,  and  is  willing  to  let  the  matter  pass  as  acci- 
dental. Still  he  cannot  but  think  the  lady's  heart  was  revealed 
in  the  glance  vouchsafed,  and  that  what  belongs  of  right  to  him 
should  be  bestowed  on  him  alone,  not  dispensed  for  all  men's 
pleasure  indiscriminately.  He  shows  her  that  the  charge  of 
jealousy  is  unfair ;    for  by  her  own  admission  she  has  testified 


136  SIX    THOMAS   WYATT 

that  others  besides  himself  have  thought  the  same.  He  now 
leaves  further  discussion,  urging  the  lady  to  keep  to  Truth,  and 
cherish  that ;  then  there  will  be  no  danger  of  misunderstanding 
or  suspicion.  If  the  poem  falls  more  appropriately  under  an 
earlier  date,  it  is  to  be  placed  in  the  group  with  the  sonnet 
Though  I  myself '  (N.  145  ;  A.  21). 

There  was  never  (class  d)  is  too  simple  and  unaffected  to  be 
the  work  of  an  earlier  period.  It  is  tender  enough  to  be  the 
record  of  a  real  experience. 

Will  ye  see.  It  may  be  said  that  this  poem  is  exactly  in  the 
style  of  those  assigned  to  the  earliest  period ;  but  there  is  an 
important  difference.  The  sentiment  is  the  same,  and  there  is 
much  of  the  like  excess  of  imagery ;  but  when  we  compare  this 
piece  with,  for  instance,  Like  as  the  wind  (N.  81  ;  A.  184), 
a  poem  similar  in  many  points  to  this,  we  feel  a  difference, 
although  it  may  not  easily  be  defined. 

In  the  composition  now  before  us  Wyatt  introduces  two  quite 
new  comparisons,  —  the  rock  of  magnet,  and  the  phoenix.  This 
is  the  first  time  we  have  met  them  in  his  poetry.  Judging,  how- 
ever, from  the  continual  recurrence  of  a  favorite  image,  even  of 
expressions  and  phrases  pleasing  to  his  fancy,  is  it  not  probable 
that  Wyatt  would  have  served  us  these  two  striking  figures  in  a 
variety  of  ways  if  he  had  come  upon  them  sooner?  The  thought 
in  the  fifth  stanza  of  Like  as  the  wind  is  just  the  contrary  of  that 
expressed  in  the  allusion  to  the  phoenix.     In  the  former  — 

"  I  feel  and  see  my  own  decay, 
As  one  that  beareth  flame  in  his  breast ;" 

in  the  poem  now  under  discussion  — 

"The  flame  whereof  doth  aye  repair 
My  life  when  it  is  gone." 

A  similar  thought  is  introduced  again  in  At  last  withdraw  your 
cruelty  (N.  209  ;  A.  100).  But  the  "  renewal "  is  there  brought 
about  by  a  flood  of  stormy  tears,  which  averts  the  danger  of 
martyrdom  by  fire,  but  exposes  to  peril  of  death  by  drowning. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  I3- 

The  flames  then  burst  forth  once  more,  and  the  process  is 
repeated  ;  and  so  the  lover  alternates  in  a  dreary  way  between 
the  deaths  which  never  come  to  his  relief.  Very  different  is 
the  treatment  of  this  idea  of  a  deathly  pain  ever  renewed,  which 
we  find  in  Will  ye  sec. 

Madam  withouten  is  evidently  a  mere  exercise  of  fancy. 

A  face  that  should  (classy).  This  beautiful  little  poem  is 
certainly  a  late  work.  Everything  points  to  this  assumption. 
It  is  not  addressed  to  any  new-found  mistress,  but  is  simply  a 
pretty  picture,  perhaps  suggested  by  the  lingering  memory  of 
some  fair  one  by  whose  lovely  face  the  poet  had  been  charmed. 
Some  attempt  has  been  made  to  refer  the  poem  to  a  remark  of 
Wyatt's  quoted  by  his  grandson  in  the  work  already  mentioned 
(compare  Aldine  Edition,  page  xv).  But  Anne's  personal  ap- 
pearance was  quite  other  than  that  here  described. 

"  From  her  Irish  descent  she  inherited 

'The  black-blue  Irish  hair  and  Irish  eyes.' 

She  was  a  little  lively,  sparkling  brunette,  with  fascinating  eyes  and 
long  black  hair,  which,  contrary  to  the  sombre  fashion  of  those 
days,  she  wore  coquettishly  floating  loosely  down  her  back,  inter- 
laced with  jewels."  1 

However  well  the  rest  of  Wyatt's  drawing  may  correspond  with 
the  original  of  this  description,  there  is  certainly  no  resemblance 
in  the  tress  of  "  crisped  gold."  In  his  Complaint  of the  Absence 
of  his  Love,  the  poet  refers  to  one  of  the  charms  of  the  lady 
whose  absence  he  laments  as  "  the  crisped  gold  that  doth  sur- 
mount Apollo's  pride"  (verse  69).  As  Nott  points  out  in  his 
notes  to  the  poem  we  are  now  considering  (page  554),  golden 
hair  was  the  favorite  type  with  the  earlier  poets.  Compare 
Chaucer  in  his  Court  of  Love,  verse  13S  :  — 

■'  And  all  her  here  it  shone  as  gold  so  fyne 
Disshivill,  crispe,  downe  hyngyng  at  her  bak 
A  yarde  in  length." 

1  Brewer,  Introduction  to  vol.  iv.  of  the  Calendars,  p.  236. 


138  SIR    THOMAS    IVY  ATT 

In  the  closing  verse  of  the  epigram  Wyatt  returns  to  his  favorite 
metaphor,  the  "knot  that  should  not  slide."  It  is  this  verse 
which  leads  the  editor  of  the  Aldine  edition  to  connect  the 
poem  with  the  allusion  in  George  Wyatt' s  remark. 

From  these  high  hills  may  have  been  written  while  Wyatt  was 
among  the  mountain-scenery  of  Spain.  It  is  evidently  a  mature 
production,  written  after  the  experiences  of  his  early  passion 
had  become  a  memory  of  the  past. 

//  burneth  yet,  alas  !  is  indeed  a  love-poem ;  but  it  is  an 
artificial  situation,  it  is  not  a  love-letter.  In  spite  of  the  warm 
and  passionate  nature  of  the  motive,  the  piece  itself  is  cool  and 
decorous. 

//  is  a  grievous  smart  is  possibly  a  companion-piece  to  the 
above ;  it  might  well  be.  In  this  poem  Wyatt  gives  us  the 
pitiful  picture  of  a  woman  betrayed  by  her  lover,  lamenting 
the  consequences  of  her  folly.  The  form  of  stanza  followed 
would  properly  bring  this  composition  under  the  class  of 
anomalous  forms,  which  follows ;  it  adopts  the  rhyme-order 
a  b  a  b  c  e. 

Of  Carthage,  he,  and  Tagus,  farewell,  are  plainly  designated 
as  composed  in  Spain.  The  former  was  written  probably  in  the 
year  1538,  as  Wyatt  declares  — 

"  At  Mountzon  thus  I  restless  rest  in  Spain." 

The  Farewell  was  composed  in  1539  as  the  poet  was  leaving 
Spain  for  England. 

Your  looks  so  often  (class/)  forms  a  pendant  to  Take  heed  by 
time  (N.  208  ;  A.  99).    It  follows  the  arrangement  ab  a  b  b  c  b c. 

O  goodly  hand  is  to  be  reckoned  similar  to  There  was  never 
nothing  (N.  153;  A.  57),  A  face  that  should  (N.  64;  T.  68; 
A.  164),  etc.     The  arrangement  followed  is  a  a  b  c  c  b. 

Lo  !  what  it  is  and  Leave  thus  to  slander  belong  together. 
The  second  poem  is  a  rejoinder  to  the  first,  —  a  double  reply, 
in  fact.  The  first  section  replies  in  corresponding  stanzas  to 
each  charge  made  in  the  preceding  poem  ;  the  second  part  is 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  I39 

an  attack  upon  the  one  who  made  the  charges.  The  rhyme- 
order  is  the  same  in  both,  —  a  a  b  b  a  b  b  a. 

Since  love  is  such  is  a  poetical  confession  of  early  folly.  "  For 
ill  my  years  of  reckless  youth"  must  not  be  taken  as  indicating 
any  very  long  interval  between  the  past  and  present  :  in  the 
last  stanza  the  poet  refers  to  the  "power  of  Love  so  late  out- 
cast." The  thought  with  which  he  closes  is  this:  Love  was, 
not  long  ago,  expelled  ;  but  his  power  still  rules  in  my  breast, 
through  the  force  of  a  new  love  which  now  possesses  me.  It 
would  be  pleasant  if  we  might  connect  this  new  love,  occa- 
sionally alluded  to,  with  the  legitimate  object  of  the  poet's 
attachment,  —  his  wife.  But  probably  no  serious  passion  is 
alluded  to.     Rhyme-order,  a  b  a  b  b  a  b  a. 

Deem  as  ye  list  is  similar  to  And  if  an  eye  (N.  159  ;  A.  63), 
the  sentiment  of  which  it  seems  to  continue.  It  may  have  been 
intended  for  singing ;  the  burden  was  adopted  in  the  song 
entitled  No  foe  to  a  flatterer,  in  the  Paradise  of  Dainty  Devices 
(Nott,  Notes,  p.  586).     The  stanza-form  is  a  b  a  b  c  a  c  b. 

Me  list  no  more  —  a  a  a  b  b  —  may  be  assigned  to  this  period 
as  appropriately  as  to  any.  The  poet  ends  his  puzzling  oracular 
remarks  with  a  sarcastic  laugh  at  his  perplexed  auditors  :  — 

"  For  I  reck  not  a  bean ; 
I  wot  what  I  do  mean  !  " 

So  feeble  is  the  thread.  This  fine  poem,  composed  in  couplets 
of  twelve  and  fourteen  syllable  lines  alternating,  forming  what  is 
commonly  designated  "  poulter's  measure,"  is  superscribed  in  the 
Harington  MS.  with  the  words  "  In  Spain,"  written  in  Wyatt's 
own  handwriting.  It  belongs  then  to  the  year  153S  or  1539, 
—  probably  to  the  former. 

This  brings  us  to  the  end  of  our  fifth  period,  —  that  of  the 
later  love-poems 


140 


SIR   THOMAS   WYATT 


Group  VI. 


T. 
72 

A. 
18 

71 

17 

42 

I69 

84 

178 

83 

176 

224 

55 

We  now  reach  the  sixth  and  final  period  of  Wyatt's  work,  — 
the  period  subsequent  to  the  year  1539.  The  following  com- 
positions may  be  assigned  to  this  group  :  — 

a.  Sonnets. 

N. 

The  pillar  perished  is    .     .     .     .       16 
The  flaming  sighs 15 

b.  Rhyme-royal  Stanza. 

Right  true  it  is     .     .  \     .     .     .  68 

Driven  by  desire 76 

In  Court  to  serve 74 

If  thou  wilt  mighty  be  ...     .  48 

c.  a  b  a  b  Stanza, 
Most  wretched  heart    ....     196  —  95 

d.  Ottava  Rima. 

Mistrustful  minds 80  78  182 

*      Sighs  are  my  food 72  82  174 

Look,  my  fair  falcon      ....  72  68  174 

He  is  not  dead 73  54  175 

Venemous  thorns 73  223  175 

In  doubtful  breast 66  84  166 

e.  Anomalous  Forms. 

Stand  whoso  list 74  83  176 

Within  my  breast 77  56  179 

Speak  thou  and  speed  .     ...       81  224  184 

When  Dido  feasted  first  ...       60  93  159 

The  Three  Satires 82  8s  186 

The  Paraphrase  of  the  Seven  Penitential  Psalms. 


AND  HIS  POEMS.  I4I 

The  pillar  perished  is  (class  a) ;  This  sonnet  is  imitated 
from  Petrarch's  Rotta  e  Talta  Colonna.  It  was  written  on  the 
occasion  of  the  death  of  Cromwell,  the  powerful  minister  whose 
friendship,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  such  a  factor  in  Wyatt's 
history.     The  event  took  place  in  July,  1540. 

The  flaming  sighs  belongs  to  the  period  of  Wyatt's  last 
imprisonment.     This   began   about   the   beginning  of   the   year 

1541,  and  continued  until  July  of  that  same  year. 

Right  true  it  is  (class  b)  and  Driven  by  desire  probably  allude 
to  one  event  :  the  two  epigrams  may  belong  to  the  period  of 
imprisonment,  like  the  preceding,  or  they  may  be  assigned  to 
a  slightly  later  date. 

In  Court  to  serve  is  to  be  referred  to  the  period  of  quiet 
retirement  at  Allington,  lasting  from  July,  1541,  until  October, 

1542.  This  short  poem  is  suggestive  of  the  Satires,  and  evi- 
dently belongs  to  the  same  period  with  them. 

If  thou  wilt  mighty  be  is  commonly  interpreted  as  alluding 
to  the  king.  Its  tone  and  subject  force  us  to  add  it  to  the 
group. 

Most  wretched  heart  (class  c)  is  not  a  love-poem.  It,  too, 
belongs  to  the  period  of  confinement  and  of  trial.  It  represents 
a  dialogue  between  the  sufferer  and  Despair. 

"  And  he  that  knoweth  what  is  what, 
Saith  he  is  wretched  that  weens  him  so," 

may  be  referred  to  Chaucer,  who  utters  this  thought  in  verse  25 
of  the  Ballade  de  Vilage  Sauns  Peynture : 

"  No  man  is  wrechched  but  himself  yt  wene, 
And  he  that  hath  himself  hat  suffisaunce." 

Mistrustful  minds  (class  d) ,  Sighs  are  my  food,  and  Look  ! 
my  fur  falcon,  all  belong  to  the  prison  period.  The  second  of  the 
three  is  addressed  to  one  of  Wyatt's  intimate  friends,  Sir  Francis 
Bryan. 

He  is  not  dead  probably  belongs  to  the  same  period  of 
imprisonment;  as  does  the  next  epigram,  I 'cue/nous  thorns. 


142 


SIR    THOMAS   WYATT 


In  doubtful  breast  may  be  best  assigned  to  the  latest  division 
of  Wyatt's  work.  An  incident  related  by  Josephus  suggested 
the  poem,  which  is  unlike  anything  else  that  Wy'att  has  done. 
It  passes  more  fitly  with  the  productions  of  these  last  years 
than  among  the  love-poems  of  an  earlier  time. 

Stand  whoso  list  (class  e)  is  a  companion-piece  to  In  Court 
to  serve,  and  belongs  to  the  quiet  days  at  Allington,  just  before 
the  poet's  death. 

Within  my  breast  is  a  poem  of  the  same  character  and  date ; 
and  this  may  be  said  also  of  the  following  epigram,  Speak  thou 
and  speed.  All  three  of  these  short  compositions  are  very 
suggestive  of  passages  in  Wyatt's  Satires,  and  are  closely  con- 
nected with  them  in  date  of  production. 

When  Dido  feasted  first,  like  So  feeble  is  the  thread,  is  com- 
posed of  alternate  hexameters  and  septenars.  The  piece  is 
but  a  fragment,  possibly  left  unfinished  because  of  the  advent 
of  the  new  system  of  Copernicus,  possibly  because  the  poet's 
labors  were  interrupted  midway  by  death.  The  fragment 
itself  is  very  carefully  wrought  out  and  finished.  It  may  have 
been  begun  in  Spain  in  1538  or  39,  as  it  reads  somewhat  like 
a  translation,  and  in  the  Spanish,  of  all  literatures,  might  such 
a  work  be  found.  In  the  absence  of  evidence,  however,  it 
has  seemed  best  to  refer  the  poem  to  the  later  date,  —  the  last 
few  months  of  Wyatt's  life. 

The  date  of  composition  for  the  three  Satires  is  fixed  by 
allusions  contained  in  them ;  notably  in  the  Second  Satire  : 

v.  80.  "This  maketh  me  at  home  to  hunt  and  hawk." 

v.  89.  "  I  am  not  now  in  France,  to  judge  the  wine  ; 
With  savory  sauce  the  delicates  to  feel : 
Nor  yet  in  Spain,  where  one  must  him  incline 
Rather  than  to  be,  outwardly  to  seem. 
I  meddle  not  with  wits  that  be  so  fine ; 
Nor  Flander's  cheer  lets  not  my  sight  to  deem 
Of  black  and  white  ;  nor  takes  my  wit  away 
With  beastliness  ;  such  do  those  beasts  esteem. 


AND  JUS  POEMS.  143 

Nor  I  am  not,  where  Christ  is  given  in  prey, 
For  money,  poison  and  trahison  ;  at  Rome 
A  common  practice,  used  night  and  day. 
But  here  I  am  in  Kent  and  Christendom, 
Among  the  muses,  where  I  read  and  rhyme, 
Where  if  thou  list,  my  Poins,  for  to  come, 
Thou  shalt  be  judge,  how  I  do  spend  my  time." 

These  were  among  the  last  productions  of  Wyatt's  pen ; 
they  reflect  throughout  the  ripeness  of  his  experience  and  the 
skill  and  mastery  he  had  attained.  The  Satires,  indeed,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  most  successful  of  his  compositions,  and  as 
that  portion  of  his  work  most  deserving  to  endure. 

This  same  period  of  the  life  at  Allington  was  devoted  finally 
to  the  composition  of  Wyatt's  most  ambitious  work,  the  Para- 
phrase of  the  Seven  Penitential  Psalms.  The  reasons  for  and 
the  significance  of  that  work  have  been  sufficiently  discussed 
in  the  preliminary  sketch  of  Wyatt's  life.  The  Psalms  them- 
selves are  composed  in  the  same  metre  as  the  Satires  ;  the 
arrangement  of  the  verses  in  both  is  that  known  as  the  terzine, 
the  rhymes  following  the  scheme  a  b  a,  b  c  bt  c  d  c,  etc. 
These  are  the  only  ones  among  Wyatt's  compositions  in  which 
this  order  is  adopted.  Each  Psalm  is  introduced  by  a  prologue 
from  the  author's  pen.  The  prologues  are  cast  in  the  ottava- 
rima  stanza,  like  most  of  the  epigrams.  Of  the  Paraphrase 
as  a  whole  it  must  be  said  that  it  is  among  the  least  successful 
of  Wyatt's  efforts.  The  style  is  heavy  and  tedious ;  the  versi- 
fication often  rough  and  faulty. 


C 


44  s//i    THOMAS   WYATT 


CONCLUSION. 


WE  have  now  completed  our  survey  of  Wyatt's  work. 
Our  examination  of  the  poems  primarily  for  the  pur- 
pose of  gleaning  new  facts  in  regard  to  the  poet's  life  has 
resulted  in  a  grouping  of  his  productions  chronologically 
arranged.     These    groups   may  be   thus   stated. 

Group  of  Earliest  poems previous  to  1522 

Group      I.     Of  the  Love -poems > 

II  ^1522-27 

»      HI.  >,  »  »  i527-32 

„    iv.       „       „       „       1532-36 

„        V.     Occasional  poems 1 536-39 

„      VI.     Late  poems 1539-42 

The  second  group  is  comparatively  small,  and  to  attempt 
to  limit  the  extent  of  Group  I.  would  be  so  unsatisfactory  that 
it  is  left  thus  undecided.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  double 
period  1532-39  contains  the  fewest  compositions;  it  was  at 
this  time,  if  at  any,  that  Wyatt  made  those  alterations  in  his  early 
poems  which  we  find  incorporated  in  TottePs  Miscellany. 

A  tabular  view  of  Wyatt's  poems,  systematically  and  chrono- 
logically arranged,  is  for  convenience  appended. 


A    REGISTER   OF   THE    POEMS. 


All  those  lines  marked  by  an  asterisk  (*)  indicate  poems  preserved  in  Harington  MS. 
No.  i  in  W  van's  own  handwriting. 

PAGE 

A  face  that  should  content 132,  137,  138 

A-lady  gave  me  a  gift T3-»  '34 

A  spending  hind  that  ahvay 96 

Absence,  absenting,  causeth  me  to  complain 68,  69 

Accused  though  I  be  without  desert 9[»  92 

After  great  storms  the  calm  returns 82,83,114 

Ah!  my  heart,  what  aileth  thee I32>  *34 

Ah!   Robin 113,  115 

Alas,  Madam,  for  stealing  of  a  kiss 86,87 

Alas!  poor  man,  what  hap  have  I 101 

Alas  !  the  grief 115,  "7 

All  heavy  minds 113,  114 

All  in  thy  look ' 86,  88 

And  if  an  eye  may  save  or  slay 132,  1 35 ,  1 39 

And  wilt  thou  leave  me  thus 101,  102 

As  power  and  wit  will  me  assist 101,  102 

At  last  withdraw  your  cruelty 76,  136 

At  most  mischief 115,  116 

Avising  the  bright  beams 68,  69 

Because  I  have  thee 70,  75 

Behold,  Love. 103 

Blame  not  my  lute 116,  119.  120 

Caesar,  when  that  the  traitor  of  Egypt 70,  S6 

Comfort  thyself,  my  woful  heart 73,  74 

~)eem  as  ye  list  upon  good  cause 132,  139 

Jesire,  alas,  my  master  and  my  foe  *      .....      121,122,  123 

10 


I46  A    REGISTER   OF   THE   POEMS. 

PAGE 

Disdain  me  not  without  desert 93,  94 

Divers  doth  use,  as  I  have  heard  and  know 108 

Driven  by  desire  I  did  this  deed 140,  141 

Each  man  tells  me 70,  86 

Ever  my  hap  is  slack 68,  69 

Farewell,  Love,  and  all  thy  laws 108,  109,  no 

Farewell  the  reign   of  cruelty in 

For  shamefast  harm 68,  69 

For  to  love  her  for  her  looks  lovely 103,  104 

For  want  of  will  in  woe  I  plain 71,72 

Forget  not  yet  the  tried  intent 101,  102 

From  these  high  hills  * 132,  138 

Full  well  it  may  be  seen U2 

Give  place,  all  ye  that  doth  rejoice 98,  99 

Go  !  burning  sighs 103,  104 

Hate  whom  ye  list,  for  I  care  not 1  r  1 

He  is  not  dead,  that  sometime 140,  141 

Heart  oppressed  with  desperate  thought 76,  77 

Heaven  and  earth,  and  all 73,  74 

Help  me  to  seek  !  for  I  lost  it  there 103,  104 

How  oft  have  I 62,  95,  97 

How  should  I 115,  118 

I  abide,  and  abide  ;  and  better  abide 95,  99 

I  am  as  I  am,  and  so  will  I  be 84,  85,  86,  95 

I  find  no  peace 70 

I  have  sought  long 93,  94,  95 

I  love,  loved  ;  and  so  doth  she 82,  83 

I  see  that  chance  hath  chosen  me 98,  100 

If  amorous  faith 69,  70 

If  chance  assigned 98,  99 

If  ever  man  might  him  avaunt 113,114 

If  fancy  would  favour .      93,94 

If  in  the  world  there  be  more  woe 115,  117,  11S 

If  it  be  so  that  I  forsake  thee 103,  104,  105 

If  thou  wilt  mighty  be 140,  141 

If  waker  care  * 132,  134 

If  with  complaint 98 


A    REGISTER   OF  THE  POEMS.  147 


1A(.E 


In  aeternum  I  was  once  determeel 132,  134 

In  doubtful  breast* 140,  142 

In  Court  to  serve 140,  141.  142 

In  faith  I  wot  not  what  to  say 132,  135 

Is  it  possible 1  1 1 

It  burnetii  vet.  alas 132,  1 3.S 

It  is  a  grievous  smart  . 132.  13S 

It  may  be  good,  like  it  who  list 97 

It  was  my  choice,  it  was  no  chance 91,  92,  94 

Leave  thus  to  slander  love 132,  138 

Like  as  the  bird      .     .  66,  68,  69,  99 

Like  as  the  swan 73,  74 

Like  as  the  wind 73,  74,  136 

Like  unto  these  unmeasurable  mountains 68,  69 

Lo  !  how  I  seek  and  sue  to  have 76,  77 

Lo  !  what  it  is  to  love 132,  138 

Look,  my  fair  falcon 140,  141 

Love  doth  again 76,  77 

Love,  Fortune,  and  my  mind 68,  69 

Madam,  withouten  many  words 132,  137 

Marvel  no  more  although 115,  117 

Me  list  no  more  to  sing 132,  139 

Mine  old  dear  en'my 130.  132 

Mine  own  John  Poins 42,  142.  143 

Mistrustful  minds  be  moved 140.  141 

Most  wretched  heart  ! 140.  141 

My  galley  charged  with  forgetfulness 70 

My  heart  I  gave  thee 10S 

My  hope,  alas  !  hath  me  abused     . 112,  114 

My  love  is  like  unto  th'  eternal  fire 76 

My  love  to  scorn,  my  service  to  retain 108 

My  lute,  awake,  perform  the  last 115,  116 

My  pen  !  take  pain  a  little  space 115,  116 

Nature,  that  gave  the  bee 86,  87 

Now  all  of  change 115,116,117 

Now  must  I  learn  to  live  at  rest 113,  115 

O  goodly  hand 132,  13S 

O  miserable  sorrow 97,  104.  105 


I48  A    REGISTER   OF   THE   POEMS. 


PAGE 


Of  Carthage  he  that  worthy  warrior  * 132,138 

Of  purpose  Love  chose  first  for  to  be  blind* 86,  87 

Once,  as  methought,  fortune  me  kissed  ....       82,  83,  84,  114 

Pass  forth,  my  wonted  cries       ........    76,  77,  78,  79 

Patience!  for  I  have  wrong 116,  121 

Patience  for  my  device 116,  120 

Patience  of  all  my  smart 1 16,  120,  121,  123 

Patience!  though  I  have  not 1 16,  120,  121,  123 

Perdie!  I  said  it  not 91,92,93 

Process  of  time  worketh  such  wonder     .     .       73,  74>  77>  78,  79>  y5 

Resound  my  voice,  ye  woods 71,72,74 

Right  true  it  is,  and  said  full  yore  ago 140,141 

She  sat,  and  sewed 86,  87 

Sighs  are  my  food 40,  140,  141 

Since  love  is  such  as  that  ye  wot 132,139 

Since  love  will  needs  that  I  shall  love 98,  100,  115 

Since  so  ye  please  to  hear  me  plain 113,115 

Since  ye  delight  to  know 76,  77 

Since  you  will  needs  that  I  shall  sing 115,  118 

So  feeble  is  the  thread* 57,  132,  137,  139,  142 

So  unwarely  was  never  no  man  caught 73 

Some  fowls  there  be 70,  74 

Sometime  I  fled  the  fire 121,  123,124 

Sometime  I  sigh,  sometime  I  sing 84,  85,  95 

Speak  thou  and  speed 140,  142 

Spite  hath  no  power  to  make  me  sad 115,  118,  119 

Stand,  whoso  list,  upon  the  slipper  top 42,  140,  142 

Such  hap  as  I  am  happed  in 84,  87 

Such  is  the  course 70,  77,  78 

Such  vain  thought 70 

Sufficed  not,  Madam,  that  you  did  tear 76,  77 

Tagus,  farewell,  that  westward  * 30,  132,  138 

Take  heed  by  time,  lest  ye  be  spied 84,  85,  138 

Tangled  I  was  in  Love's  snare 115,  '119 

That  time  that  mirth  did  steer  my  ship 97,  9S,  123 

The  answer  that  ye  made  to  me  * 98,  99 

The  enemy  of  life,  decayer  of  all  kind 86.  88 

The  flaming  sighs  that  boil 140,  141 


A    REGISTER   OF  THE  POEMS.  ,4q 

PAGB 

The  fruit  of  all  the  service 86,  87 

The  furious  gun  in  his 73 

The  heart  and  service  to  you  proffered S2,  83,  84,  S5 

The  joy  so  short,  alas  ! 97,  1:4.  [06 

The  knot  which  first  my  heart  did  strain 91 

The  lively  sparks  that  issue 70 

The  long  love  that  in  my  thought 67,  70 

The  pillar  perished  is  whereto  I  leant 140,  141 

The  wand'ring  gaddling 86,  87 

There  was  never  file  half  so  well  filed 108,  109 

There  was  never  nothing  more  me  pained    .     .     .     .    132,  136,  138 

'They  flee  from  me,  that  sometime 112 

Tho'  I  cannot  your  cruelty  constrain 98,  113 

Thou  hast  no  faith  of  him  that  hath  none    .     .     .     .    IIO,  III,  113 

Thou  restful  place,  renewer  of  my  smart 71,  75 

Though  I  myself  be  bridled  of  my  mind     ...    95,  96,  103,  136 

Though  this  the  port 97,  104,  105 

Throughout  the  world  if  it  were  sought 121,  122 

To  cause  accord,  or  to  agree 75 

To  rail  or  jest,  ye  know  I  use  it  not 108,  109 

To  seek  each  where  where  man  cloth  live 84 

To  wet  your  eye  withouten  tear 121,  122 

To  wish  and  want,  and  not  obtain 75 

Unstable  dream,  according  to  the  place       ....    70,71,72,75 
Unwarely  so  was  never  no  man  caught   . 73 

Venemous  thorns  that  are  so  sharp  * 140,141 

Vulcan  begat  me,  Minerva  me  taught  * 68,  69 

Was  I  never  yet  of  your  love  grieved 95,  97 

Was  never  file  yet  half  so  well  yfiled 10S,  109 

What  death  is  worse  than  this 98,  100,  104,  106 

What  man  hath  heard  such  cruelty  before 86,  87 

What  meaneth  this  !  when  I  lie  alone 75,  85 

What  needs  these  threatening  words 86,  87 

What  no,  perdie  !  ye  may  be  sure no 

What  rage  is  this?  what  furor  ?* 75,  76.  77,  79 

What  should  I  say 112 

What  'vaileth  truth 103,  110 

What  word  is  that,  that  changeth  not 71,  72 

When  Dido  feasted  first  * 57,  143,  142 


150  A    REGISTER   OF   THE  POEMS. 

PAGE 

When  first  mine  eyes  did  view 116,  121 

Where  shall  I  have  at  mine  own  will 113,  114 

Who  hath  heard  such  cruelty  before 86,  87 

Whoso  list  to  hunt? 108,  109,  112 

Will  ye  see  what  wonders  Love  hath  wrought .     .     .    132,  136,  137 
Within  my  breast  I  never  thought  it  gain 140,  142 

Ye  know  my  heart,  my  Lady  dear 91,  93 

Ye  old  mule  !      , no,  11 1 

Ye  that  in  love  find  luck  * 25,  55,  132,  133 

Yet  was  I  never  of  your  love  aggrieved 95,  97 

Your  looks  so  often  cast 132,  138 

Paraphrase  of  the  Psalms 42,  50,  54,  65,  140,  143 

Satires 42,  65,  96,  140,  141,  142,  143 


INDEX. 


Aiding  Edition,  36,  52,  126.  127,  137,  138. 
Allington,  12,  13,  38,  \2,  14*1  *42,  143 

A  Ires  ford  Friary,  37. 
Alsc/ier,  Rudolph,  53,  64,  67. 
Arbers  Reprint,  49. 
Aryngden  Park,  28. 
A 11  sonius,  69. 

Bell's  Edition,  52. 

Boleyn,  Anne  :  References  in  Calendars,  23,  32,  33,  34.  References 
in  Poems,  96,  123,  133.  134,  135,  137.  Character,  and  Rela- 
tions to  Wyatt,  29,  31,  126-130. 

Bonner,  Bishop  of  London,  37,  38,  40,  41. 

Brewer,  Editor  of  the  Calendars,  17,  20,  127,  128,  129,  130,  137. 

Bryan,  Sir  Francis,  40,  141. 

Calais,  21,  22,  25,  65,  123,  125. 
Calendars  of  State  Papers  : 
Vol.  I.     4125.     Sir  Henry  Wyatt  to  be  Treasurer  of  the  King's 
Jewels,  12. 
List  of  the  Royal  Household,  15. 
243.     Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  12. 
Sir  Henry  Wyatt,  Treasurer  of  the  Chamber,  12. 
Ibid.,  13. 

Loan  for  War  with  France.  16 
Wolsey  to  Francis  I.,  16. 
Sir  Thomas  Cheney  to  Wolsoy,  10. 
Cheney  and  Taylor  to  Wolsey,  17. 
Wolsey  to  Henry  VIII.,  \J 
Cheney  to  Henry  VIII  ,  17. 


II. 

2735- 

III. 

241. 

2835. 

2852. 

IV. 

214. 

2037. 

2075. 

2135- 

2163. 

2194. 

152 


INDEX. 


Ca!e7idars  of  State  Papers  :     * 

IV.     2322.     Release  to  Abbott  of  Saint  Mary's,  16. 
2875.     Casale  and  Russell  to  Wolsey,  18. 
2931.     Casale  to  Wolsey,  18. 
301 1.     Russell  and  Casale  to  Wolsey,  19. 
3023.     John  Casale  to  Wolsey,  19. 
3104.     Account  of  Payments  by  .   .  .  Wyatt,  20. 
31 21,  3380,  3739.     Payments  by  Sir  H.  Wyatt,  20. 
4170.     Brian  Tuke,  Treasurer  of  the  Chamber,  20. 
5102     (2).     Salaries  of  Officers  at  Calais,  21. 
5978  (26).     Grant  to  Tho.  Wyatt  to  import,  21 
6418    (8).     John  Williams  to   be  Clerk  of  the  King's 

Jewels,  22. 
6490  (23).     Tho.  Wyatt  to  be  Marshal,  etc.,  21. 
6751  (24).     Sir  Edw.  Ryngeley  to  be  Marshal,  21. 
V.       119  (71).     Grant  to  William  Bunsall,  23. 

278  (10).     Grant  in  reversion  to  J.  Williams,  23 
838  03)-     Commissioner  of  the  Peace,  23. 
1285     (5).     Cromwell's  Obligations,  23. 
VF.       601,  701.     Coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn,  12,  23. 
VII.       674.     John  Rokewood  to  Lord  Lisle,  24. 

922  (17).     Th.  Wyatt  to  Command  in  the  Army,  25. 
VIII.       249.     Eliz   Rede  to  Tho.  Wyatt,  26. 

275.     Sir  Edw.  Wotton  to  Cromwell,  26. 
349.     Sir  Edw.  Wotton  to  Cromwell,  27. 
1 158  (16).     Lease  of  Aryngden  Park,  28. 
X.       726.     Letter  "  endd  by  Wyat,"  31. 
798.     Kingston  to  Cromwell,  33. 
819.     Sir  Hen.  Wyatt  to  Tho.  Wyatt,  32. 
840.     Sir  Hen.  Wyatt  to  Cromwell,  32. 
855.     Hussey  to  Lord  Lisle,  34. 
865.     Hussey  to  Lord  Lisle,  34. 
909.     Chapuis  to  the  English  Ambassador,  35. 

919.  Hussey  to  Lord  Lisle,  34. 

920.  Hussey  to  Lady  Lisle,  34. 

1 131.     Sir  Hen.  Wyatt  to  Cromwell,  32. 

Vol.  III.  (Introduction,  p.  432).     Anne  Boleyn,  127. 

IV.   (Introduction,  p.  244).     Anne  Boleyn,  128. 

(Introduction,  p.  246).     Anne  Boleyn,  129. 

(Introduction,  p.  252).     Anne  Boleyn,  130. 

(Introduction,  p.  236).     Anne  Boleyn,  137. 

Catharine,  Queen,  28,  29,  36,  127. 


/.XL)  EX.  153 

Cavendish's  Cardinal  Wolsey,  12. 
Chapuis  (Austrian  ambassador),  34,  35. 

Charles  V.,  16,  36,  38,  y),  43. 
Chaucer,  5;.  69,  73.  105.  133,  134,  137.  141. 
Cheney,  Sir  Thomas,  16,  17,  iS,  [9,  05,  125. 
Collier,  John  Payne,  19.  20. 
Collins' s  Peerage,  13. 
Cotton  Manuscripts,  35.  36. 
Court  Period,  65. 
Cromwell,  Richard.  25,  26. 

Cromwell,  Thomas.  25,  26.  27.  2S,  29.  30.  32,  33.  37.  38,  39.  40, 
141. 

Defence,  Wyatt's,  31.  35,  38.  4r.  135. 
Devonshire  Manuscript,  51. 
D'Hcricault,  127. 
Editions,  50,  52. 
Edward  VI.,  45. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  45.  51. 
English  Reprints.  49.  57. 

Feat  of  Arms,  14.  125. 
Francis  I.,  12,  16,  17,  39. 

Gray,  Lady  Jane,  45. 

Green's  Short  History  of  the  English  People,  29,  30. 

Grimald,  Nicholas.  49,  55,  56. 

Hall,  Edward.  Chronicler,  14. 

Harington ,  Sirjohn,  51. 

Harington  Manuscript  No.  1  :  Described,  50-53,  56. 

Referred  to,  71,  103.  114,  123,  139. 
Harington  Manuscript  No.  2,  52. 
Hasted' s  Kent,  12. 
I/awes,  Stephen,  54,  66. 
Henry  VII.,  II,  12. 
Henry  YIII.  :   Inferences  in  Biography,  12,  16,40.     Condition  of 

affairs  in  1536,  2S-30.     References  in  Poems,  123,  141. 
Heralds'  College,  13,  35. 
Herbert's  Plenry  VI 1 1 .,  11. 
Howard,  Henry,  Earl  of  Surrey  :   References  in  Biography,  13,  43, 

45.     His  Verse,  49,  50.  54,  67. 


154  INDEX. 

Hussey,  John,  33,  34,  35. 
Hutchins's  Dorsetshire,  42. 

Imprison?nent,  First,  31,  135. 
Imprisonment,  Second,  40,  64,  141. 
l7iquisiiio?i,  Spanish,  38. 
Interpretation,  Principles  of,  64,  65. 

r 
Joseplius,  142. 

Kingston,  Sir  W.,  33. 

Lee,  Sir  Anthony,  13. 

Lee,  Henry,  42. 

Lee,  Margaret,  13,  51. 

Leland's  Naenia,  21. 

Letter  of  Sir  Tho.  Wyatt  to  his  Son,  11,  12,  24,  44,  45. 

Lisle,  Lady,  34. 

Lisle,  Lord,  24,  25,  33,  34. 

Manuscript,  Cotton,  35,  36. 

Manuscript,  Devonshire,  51. 

Manuscript,  Harington,  No.  1.     See  Harington. 

Manuscript,  Harington,  No.  2,  52. 

Marot,  Clement,  127. 

Mary,  Queen,  37,  45,  49,  55. 

Miscellanies,  The  Poetical,  49. 

Miscellany,  Tottel's,  49,  50,  52-56,  124. 

Norfolk,  Duke  of,  35,  135. 

Nott,  Rev.  G.  F.,  D.  D.,  23,  35,  42,  43,  5°,  52,  53>  5^,  66,  96,  112, 
114,  117,  126. 

Pandulphus,  69. 

Pet?'arch,  Translations  from,  62,  69,  70,  73,  97,  103,  141. 

Pole,  Reginald,  41. 

Puttenhani's  Arte  of  Poesie,  13. 

Rede,  Elizabeth,  26,  27,  28. 
Reprints,  English,  49;  Si- 
Richard  III.,  11. 
Riverside  Edition,  52. 
Rokewood,  John,  24,  25. 


INDEX. 


155 


Roman nt  of  the  Rose,  75,  88,  105. 

Rondeaux,  The,  103. 

Russell,  Sir  John,  14,  18,  65,  125. 

Saint  Mary's  Abbey,  15. 
Saint  Mary's,  Abbott  of,  16. 
Scrap  no.  73,  87. 
Suffolk,  Duke  of,  31,  135. 

Texty  49- 

Text,  Variations  in,  53,  57-61,  71,  124.  144. 

TottePs  Miscellany,  40,  50,  52-56,  124. 

Translations.     See    Anson  ins.  Josef hus,    Pandulphus,    Petrarch, 

Serafino. 
Trevelyan  Papers,  20. 
Tukc,  Sir  Brian,  20. 

Variations  in  Text,  53,  57-61,  71,  T24,  144. 
Versification  Wyatt's,  66. 

Westtnalling,  25-28. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  12,  15,  17,  18,  23. 

Wotton,  Sir  Edw.,  25,  26.  27. 

llyatt,  Anne  (Wife  of  Sir  Henry  Wyatt),  13. 

Wyatt,  Elizabeth  (Wife  of  Sir  Tho.  Wyatt),  14,  45. 

Wyatt,  George  (Grandson  of  Sir  Tho.  Wyatt),  126,  137.  13S. 

Wyatt,  Sir  Henry,  u,  15,  17,  20,  24,  32,  38. 

Wyatt,  Henry  (Son  of  Sir  Henry  Wyatt),  13. 

Wyatt,  Margaret  (Daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Wyatt),  13,  51. 

Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas  :  Biography,  1 1-45.  Youth,  13.  Marriage,  14. 
Feat  of  Arms  at  Greenwich,  14,  125.  Introduction  at  Court, 
15.  Sent  with  Money  to  the  North,  [5,  125.  With  Sir  Tho. 
Cheney  in  France,  16,  125.  With  Sir  John  Russell  in  Italy, 
18,  125.  Entry  in  Trevelyan  Papers,  20.  Marshal  of  Calais. 
21,  125.  Clerk  of  the  King's  Jewels,  22,  23,  125.  Commis- 
sioner of  the  Peace  for  Essex.  23,  125.  Fall  of  Wolsev.  2^. 
Ewerer  at  Coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn,  14,  23.  Affray  with  the 
Sergeants  of  London,  24.  Letter  to  his  Son  cited,  1 1,  12.  24. 
44,  45.  Command  in  the  Army,  25.  Connection  with  West- 
mailing,  25.  Leases  Aryngden  Park.  28.  The  Year  1536, 
Relations  to  Anne  Boleyn,  31,  126-130,  135.  First  Imprison- 
ment, 31.  Defence  cited,  31,  35,  38,  41,  135.  Command  under 
the    Duke   of  Norfolk,  35,   135.      High  Sheriff  of  Kent.   35. 


156  INDEX. 

Knighted,  35,  36.  Ambassador  to  Spain,  36.  Connection 
with  Bonner,  37,  41.  In  Danger  of  the  Inquisition,  38.  Spe- 
cial Envoy  in  France,  39.  Fall  of  Cromwell,  39.  Second 
Imprisonment,  40.  Trial  before  the  Privy  Council,  41.  Grant 
of  Lands  m  Lambeth,  etc.,  42.  Paraphrase  of  the  Penitential 
Psalms,  43.  Commissioned  to  meet  the  Envoys  of  Charles 
V.,  43.  Death,  43.  Accomplishments  and  Character,  44. 
Wyatt,  Thomas  (the  Younger),  11,  12,  14,  24  45   51 


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